


didn't know what i was in for.

by pyroallerdyce



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Celebrities, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Disapproving Family, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Inheritance, Leaky Cauldron, London, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Money, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Relationship, Relationship(s), Slow Burn, The Sacred Twenty-Eight (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:27:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 43,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21985180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: I didn't know what I was in forWhen I laid out in the sunWe get burned for being honestI've really never done anything, for anyoneor:  Draco Malfoy can't trust anyone, and after yet another round of rumors about him dating someone he'd never met, he decides that he's had enough of the life he's living.  He finds a bar and goes inside, where the owner Hannah convinces him to give trusting her and her friends a try.  One of those friends is a pretty brunette named Astoria, and Draco might end up trusting her more than the others.
Relationships: Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy, Hannah Abbott/Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 20
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi. i write AUs way better than i write canon stuff, so here, have one. kind of really nervous about posting this, and i sincerely hope you like it. if you do, please let me know via a comment, kudos, or bookmark so that i know i'm not writing into a void.
> 
> i tagged it as such, but this is a drastoria slow burn, FYI.
> 
> title and lyrics in the description are from the better oblivion community center song.

Draco Malfoy did not have friends.

He was the sole heir of the multi-trillion pound fortune that belonged to the Malfoy family, and as such, people had always tried to get close to him. His life had been mapped out for him before he was even born, and that meant that he'd only been allowed to play with the sons of his parents' socialite friends as a child, but he'd never grown close enough to any of them to call them friends of his own. He'd thought maybe he'd finally make some friends when he was sent to Eton College at the age of 13, but he'd just been surrounded by those same sons of the same socialite parents, and the ones surrounding him who weren't that were so desperate to be friends with him because he was a Malfoy that it turned Draco off entirely. By the time Draco went off to Cambridge for university, he was so against the idea of having friends that he decided he wouldn't make any.

Once university was over and Draco had taken over the position of CEO at Malfoy International so that his father could spend more time golfing in Spain, Draco began to realize that he was lonely. It seemed like he couldn't show his face in public without some headlines linking him to this actress or that model. His mother was after him to pick one of them to settle down with, not listening when Draco told her that he'd never met any of them, and eventually, he'd use the press attention to his advantage to actually meet one of them and date them for a month or two just to shut his mother up. There was a tremendous amount of pressure on him since he was the only one of the next generation of the Malfoy family, and it was all something that he took very, very seriously.

But he had no idea about how to make some friends when he found he couldn't trust anyone.

It was when headlines were everywhere about Draco and his secret relationship with television presenter Pansy Parkinson that he decided he'd had enough. Draco couldn't even name what program Pansy Parkinson was the presenter of, let alone be in a secret relationship with her. Knowing that his mother would no doubt be calling to inquire about her, Draco knew that if he were to keep up with his actions when previous situations like that arose, he needed to find a way to meet this Parkinson woman and then date her for a few months. Maybe it would turn into more, but it most likely wouldn't, and then when he got bored of being in this relationship he didn't want to be in, he'd end things just like he had with every other woman.

He just could not take any more of that. He needed an escape for his sanity to remain intact.

So that night, he drove around London until he found a place called the Leaky Cauldron, picked it because it had the most interesting name of any of the bars that he'd driven past in the hour that he'd been looking for a place, found a place to park, and walked into the bar with the goal of getting drunk.

There would probably be headlines about that the next morning because everyone in there was going to have a camera due to their phones and more than one of them would be willing to sell him out, but Draco simply didn't care. The last thing he wanted to do that night was get drunk in his penthouse. He wanted to get drunk in that bar.

He settled himself at the bar and ordered a bottle of whiskey, and once it had been set in front of him, he poured himself a glass and let the alcohol burn his throat on the way down. The bar wasn't all that busy, but as Draco looked around the place, he decided that it was exactly the kind of place that he would hang out in all the time if he were able to. It felt warm, it felt inviting, and it felt much, much better than any of the places Draco normally would have been.

He noticed the woman behind the bar staring at him as he drank, but he figured that she'd probably be the one to sell him out and dismissed it. The bottle was half gone by the time that she walked up to him, and Draco stared across the bar at her when she smiled at him. 

“We don't normally get your type in here,” she said, leaning up against the bar. “But I'm not gonna complain about having a Malfoy in the place.”

“A Malfoy? Of course that's all I am to you,” escaped Draco's mouth before he could stop himself, wincing when he realized what he'd said. “Fuck.”

“Honey, I don't know anything about you,” the woman said. “I just know you're a Malfoy. But if you're gonna become a regular, then I'd be happy to know more about you.”

Draco stared at her again, and she laughed. “Hannah Abbott. I own this place.”

“Draco,” he said, pouring himself another glass. “And I like your bar.”

Hannah beamed at him. “Thanks. She's my pride and joy. Now, what are you doing in it? As I said, we don't normally get your type in here.”

Draco stared at her yet again before sighing heavily. “Just needed someplace to go where people wouldn't be falling at my feet for attention. Thought maybe this might be the place.”

“I'll be happy to throw out anyone who tries to do that to you,” Hannah said seriously. “I don't put up with bullshit like that in my bar.”

Draco laughed lightly. “I like it better already.”

“I believe in allowing people to get drunk alone if that's what they want,” Hannah said. “Anyone tries to interrupt that and gets rebuffed, but then they try it again? They're gone.”

Draco nodded and knocked back his glass. “Well, it's not like I have anyone to get drunk with anyway, so maybe if someone tries, I might just let them.”

Hannah tilted her head slightly to the side. “What about all your friends?”

“I don't have friends,” Draco said automatically. “It's always been hard to find anyone who cares about me the person instead of my family's name.”

“Then you need some friends, Draco.”

“As I said, finding people who actually want to care about me the person is very difficult.”

“Hannah!” called out someone from behind him before she could respond, and Hannah broke out into a brilliant grin. 

“Hi, honey. About time you got here.”

“Sorry, Han, but I got caught up grading papers and didn't notice the time,” the man said, leaning up against the bar next to where Draco was sitting. “Anyone else here yet?”

“You're the first one,” Hannah said, looking over at Draco. “Draco, I'd like you to meet my fiancé Neville. Neville, this is Draco.”

Draco turned to look at him and saw the recognition flash through Neville's eyes, and he braced himself for what was going to happen next because he somehow doubted that Hannah was going to kick out her own fiancé. But what happened next shocked him.

“It's nice to meet you, Draco. Always nice to see someone new in here,” Neville said before turning his attention back to Hannah. “Our table reserved?”

“Of course,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “Like I'd let someone else sit there on a Friday night.”

Neville grinned at her. “I know, I know, but I always have to ask.”

“I'll send everyone your way when they get here. By the time that everyone is, all the alcohol that is required is yours,” Hannah said, reaching behind her for a bottle and a glass. “But you can get a headstart if you want.”

Neville laughed and took the bottle and glass from her. “An expensive bottle of vodka. A woman after my own heart.”

“Just don't drink all of it today, okay? You did not enjoy last weekend because of it.”

“I won't, Han, I promise.” Neville looked behind him when the door opened. “Oh, there's Luna.”

“Tell her to go sit down and a Manhattan will be in front of her shortly.”

Neville nodded and walked away, and Draco turned back to Hannah with an amazed look on his face. “Did he even register who I am?”

“Oh, trust me, he knows who you are. Well, he knows your name at any rate. It sounds like hardly anyone knows who you really are.”

Draco poured himself another glass and knocked it back quickly. “You are perceptive.”

“I'm a bartender, honey. Being perceptive is key.”

“I suppose it would be,” Draco said, seeing Hannah's smile widen when he heard the door open again.

“Hey, Ginny!” she called out. “Head on over to the table and the drinks will be out shortly.”

“Thanks, Hannah!” Ginny called back, and Hannah began to make the Manhattan she had mentioned earlier. 

“My fiancé and I have a pretty large group of friends,” Hannah explained. “Everyone's a regular, but they're usually all only in here at the same time on Friday nights. I should introduce you to them. They won't care what your surname is.”

“I somehow doubt that,” Draco said, sighing heavily. “It's the curse of being a Malfoy. People would rather take advantage of you than actually care about you.”

Hannah just shook her head. “Well, I think you're entirely too pessimistic for your age. How old are you anyway? You look like you're in your mid-twenties.”

“Twenty-seven,” Draco said, “and I'm not a pessimist. I'm a realist.”

“Do you honestly think that everyone you've ever met only cares about the fact that you're a Malfoy? That can't possibly be true.”

“Well, it is.”

“Then you really do need some friends.”

“I can't trust anyone, so I don't see how that's possible.”

Hannah finished making the Manhattan and set it on a tray, turning to grab a few more bottles and beginning work on another drink. Draco watched her for a moment before deciding he had absolutely no idea what she was making. “What is that?”

“A Singapore Sling.”

“A what?”

“Gin, cherry brandy, triple sec, Benedictine, pineapple juice, grenadine, and lime juice. Add in a slice of fresh pineapple and a maraschino cherry and you're all set.”

“I have never heard of that before.”

“It's pretty good if you ask me,” Hannah said. “It's Ginny's favorite.”

“I suppose each one of your friends has their own favorite drink.”

“Of course,” Hannah said, smiling at him. “Luna's is a Manhattan, Ginny's is this, Harry's is called Jerry the Icelandic Sailor.”

“Jerry the Icelandic Sailor?” Draco interrupted, bemused. “What the hell kind of drink is that?”

“It's a vodka cocktail,” Hannah explained. “Vodka, rum, lemon juice, peach nectar, and Angostura bitters. It's really good, you should try one sometime.”

“I highly doubt I'm ever going to find a place that can make that.”

Hannah looked up at him. “Draco, you're sitting in a place that can make that. Come back anytime and I'll make you one on the house. I'd give it to you tonight but you've drunk far too much whiskey for that.”

Draco looked at the bottle in front of him and sighed. “Take this away from me before I drink the whole bottle.”

Hannah watched him for a moment before reaching out and grabbing onto the bottle, setting it out of Draco's reach. “You got a bit of a drinking problem, honey?”

“No, no,” Draco said, shaking his head. “I always stop before I go too far. It's just that after today, I'm very tempted to go too far.”

“I take it you're talking about this Pansy Parkinson nonsense?” Hannah asked.

“How'd you know it's nonsense?”

“She doesn't look like your type,” Hannah said simply.

“You have no idea what my type is.”

“Then what is it? Because I highly doubt it's any of those celebrities you're always seen with.”

Draco groaned. “I hate doing that. I absolutely hate it. But I'm never going to find anyone any other way.”

“Now that's bullshit,” Hannah said, reaching for a glass. “You've just got to look in the right place.”

“And I suppose you know where that is?”

Before Hannah could say another word, a woman leaned up against the bar next to Draco, and all he could think about was how beautiful she was. “Hannah, can you make me a Black Russian tonight? It's been a long day.”

“Of course. Go sit down with everyone and it'll be right out.”

Draco watched the woman walk away and over to the table where Neville was sitting, and when he turned back around, Hannah was smiling. “What?”

“I think the right place might be here,” Hannah said, grabbing a glass and pouring the Singapore Sling into it. “Her name's Astoria, by the way.”

Draco couldn't help but think that name suited her well. “So what? She'd never give me the time of day.”

Hannah clicked her tongue at him. “As I said earlier, you're a pessimist. Always certain of the worst before it even happens. Does that serve you well in business? Because it's definitely not going to serve you well in love.”

“Love,” Draco laughed. “That's not going to be happening.”

“Pessimist,” Hannah stressed. “You need to look on the bright side of things for a change.”

“Finish telling me about these favorite drinks of your friends',” Draco said, trying to change the subject. “And then I might have to try the ones I haven't heard of.”

“Thought you didn't know anywhere that could make you a Jerry the Icelandic Sailor.”

“Thought you offered me a free one so I'd come back.”

Hannah laughed. “So you could tell I was doing that.”

“Of course. You want that Malfoy money spent in your bar.”

Hannah shook her head. “I want regulars in my bar no matter their surname. I don't give a fuck that you're a Malfoy. I give a fuck that you're Draco.”

“I'm never going to believe that.”

“Then give me a chance to prove it to you,” Hannah said. “Give all of us a chance to prove it to you.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at that. “All of you?”

“Oh, like I'm going to let you get away with not having any friends anymore,” Hannah said seriously. “If you're going to start coming in here so I can prove to you that I don't care that you're a Malfoy, then I'm going to get you some friends who won't care either. And maybe a bit more than that too.”

Draco sighed. “If I agree to come back in here, there will be no setting me up with Astoria or anyone else.”

Hannah laughed. “Oh, honey. That's totally going to happen whether you like it or not. I know Ginny and Luna will be all too helpful in my plans.”

Draco closed his eyes. “I'm never going to be able to trust any of you.”

“You're never going to be able to trust anyone unless you give it a real chance,” Hannah pointed out. “And if you never trust anyone then you're never going to find a wife, and then there will never be a Malfoy heir, which will then bring about the end of the Malfoy line, something which I know your parents will never go for.”

“And how do you know that?”

“There was a fascinating interview with your mother in the Sunday Times last week,” Hannah said, smiling at him. “She said lots of interesting things about you. I'd really love to know what the truth behind them is. I can't imagine she did anything more than some public relations spin on who you really are.”

“I guarantee you it wasn't spin,” Draco said. “She wouldn't know anything to spin any public relations nonsense out of. Neither of my parents has any idea about me as a person.”

“All the more reason for you to gain some friends. You deserve to be able to be yourself with people, Draco. I can't even begin to imagine how lonely you must be.”

Draco went to protest before thinking better of it. He'd already said way too much to her, and he'd never be able to trust her, but if Hannah was going to run to the press about him, he might as well offer up something that he'd really not mind becoming public knowledge. “Lonely is one word for it. Trapped is another. The pressure on me is enormous and I hate it.”

Hannah nodded. “I can understand that. You've got to be living in an incredibly small bubble as it is, but to isolate yourself from people only makes that bubble smaller. So what I'm going to do is pop it.”

Draco shook his head. “I don't think that's going to be happening.”

“So you're just going to be alone for the rest of your life then? Come on, Draco. At least give the opportunity to make friends a chance. If you still think you can't trust them after a month or so, then say so and never come back into my bar. I think that you're going to find out pretty quickly that you've got nothing to be afraid of when it comes to us. We're not going to go run and tell anyone anything about you.”

“Sure you're not,” Draco said. “I'm convinced our conversation will be front-page news in two days.”

“I wouldn't have any idea about how to leak anything to the press, but I'd never do it even if I did.”

“And you expect me to trust that?”

“I'm hoping that when you wake up in two days to see that it isn't, you'll realize you can trust me and that will make you come back. Besides, I will still owe you the free drink.”

“Hannah!” came a voice from behind Draco. “Hermione wants a Godmother tonight!”

“Alright. What about you, Ron?”

“I'll stick with the Monkey Jam Sour.”

“Got it! Be out in a few!”

Draco shook his head. “You all really do like weird drinks, you know that?”

“First off, none of these drinks are weird,” Hannah said. “Secondly, if you tore yourself away from soirees where I bet the only thing they have is champagne for long enough, you would discover one of these 'weird' drinks that will become your favorite.”

“You have sounded very sure about everything tonight when you really don't know me at all.”

“It's easy to tell just from looking at you that you're sad, Draco. I view it as my job to make sad people who come into my bar happy, and I don't mean just feeding them drinks. If I can help make your life a better one, then that's what I'm going to do.”

Draco reached for his glass and took a long sip. “If I agree to come back, will you stop talking about this and tell me more about your friends and their weird drinks?”

Hannah laughed. “Gladly. After all, I'm going to have to come up with some drinks for you to try out until you find the one that's your favorite.”

Draco stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Then fine, I'll come back. I don't know when, but I'll come back.”

“Next Friday.”

“Can't. I've got some gala at the National Portrait Gallery to attend.”

Hannah shook her head. “Then come on Saturday night instead.”

“I think that I can do that,” Draco said. “I don't really pay attention to my schedule. I only know about this gala because I had a tux fitting today.”

“So who takes care of your schedule?”

“My assistant.”

“And you can't trust this assistant of yours?”

“Millicent? No.”

“Why not?”

“Because Millie thinks that we're friends,” Draco said simply. “And she only thinks that because beyond my business interests and things I must attend because of them, she knows absolutely nothing about me. Too terrified that she might run to the press if she did.”

“You sure are concerned about people running to the press about you,” Hannah pointed out. “Don't you just want some people to be around that you're not scared of that happening with?”

Draco sat there for a moment before nodding slightly. “I just know I can't have that.”

“I think you can, you just don't know where to look for it,” Hannah said, reaching for a glass. “But I'm going to prove to you that tonight, you walked into the place where you can do just that.”

Draco ran his hands over his face and held out his hand. “Can I have the bottle again please?”

“No,” Hannah said seriously. “I'm not going to let you go too far just because you're too scared to admit that you would really like me to get you some friends that you can trust.”

“Then I'm leaving.”

“You're not doing that either, especially if you drove yourself here,” Hannah said firmly. “Spend the night talking to me instead. I'll get you sobered up and I can learn more about who Draco is beyond his surname.”

Draco wanted to leave. He really, really did. But there was a much larger part of him that wanted Hannah to be right, so he knew what he was going to do. “Fine, I'll stay. But don't neglect your friends on my behalf.”

“Oh, don't worry about that,” Hannah said, smiling. “I'm on duty tonight and they all know it. The only thing they'll want from me is more booze until I can't legally sell it anymore. Then, and only then, will I go hang out with them.”

Draco sighed. “Well, if you're going to be hanging out here at the bar with me, you're going to have to tell me more about you. I'm not just going to give up this personal information and not receive any in return.”

Hannah's smile turned into a grin. “So your social skills are better than I thought they were. Excellent.”

“I have incredible social skills.”

“No, you have incredible business skills that allow you to make small talk at parties. Talking to your friends is different.” Hannah looked up when the door opened. “Hey, Harry! Drinks will be out in a few!”

“Thanks, Hannah!”

Draco watched a man in glasses walk over to the table and sit down next to the woman Hannah had said was Ginny. Harry put his arm around her and kissed her before turning back to the table, and Draco felt a sense of longing wash over him. He'd give absolutely anything to have a life like that.

Maybe if he listened to Hannah, he'd be able to have one. 

“So, tell me how you and Neville met,” Draco said. “And give me a soda or something. Something that you will allow me to drink.”

Hannah laughed and grabbed a bottle from under the bar, setting it in front of Draco and popping the top off. “I can't imagine the story of how I met Neville is anything compared to the stories of the people you are around, but I'll tell you all about it.”

Draco grabbed the bottle and took a long drink before allowing a genuine smile to cross his face. “Can't wait to hear it.”


	2. Chapter 2

Try as he might to concentrate, all Draco could think about was the Leaky Cauldron and Hannah Abbott. It had been four days since he'd been in there, four days since he'd told Hannah things that he'd never planned on telling anyone, and not a single word of it had ended up in any of the papers. 

Not a single word.

All that had done was make Draco realize that Hannah was telling him the truth when she'd said she wouldn't sell him out, but he wasn't sure that meant that he could trust her. A lot more would have to be done before that could happen if it could happen at all. Draco wasn't one hundred percent sure of it, but he thought that perhaps he had no idea what trusting someone felt like and so he would never know that he was or was not experiencing it. He wanted to, he really did, and he was thinking that maybe the Leaky Cauldron was the place and Hannah the person to do it.

“Draco, you're not listening to me.”

Draco broke away from his thoughts and saw Millicent standing there, folders in one arm and a phone in the other's hand. “Sorry, my attention was somewhere else.”

“I could tell,” Millicent said, shaking her head. “I was saying that we need to talk about this Pansy Parkinson situation.”

Draco sighed and walked away from her, sitting down behind his desk. “I don't want to talk about that.”

“Your mother has been inquiring about her,” Millicent continued, “and so I was wondering if you wanted me to arrange a location in which you could actually meet her like we usually do for these rumored girlfriends of yours.”

Draco shook his head violently. “No. I'm done with that bullshit.”

Millicent walked across the room and took a seat in the chair across the desk from Draco. “Then what do you want to do? I can't keep deflecting these inquiries from your mother's assistant.”

“Tell Blaise that if my mother wants to say something to me, she can do it in person,” Draco said seriously. “And have the media department put out a statement strenuously denying these rumors. I have never met Pansy Parkinson in my life and I want it to continue that way.”

Millicent wrote down a note to do that before turning her attention back to him. “We also need to talk about who is going to accompany you to the gala at the Portrait Gallery on Friday.”

“I'm going by myself.”

“I was going to suggest your cousin. She would be someone that could attend it with you and not start rumors about a relationship.”

“Nymphadora? You think that I should take Nymphadora? Come on, Millie. Be realistic for a moment.”

“I am being realistic,” Millicent said. “Taking Dora to the gala would be a good idea. You showing up alone would not be.”

“Me showing up alone would help stop this Parkinson nonsense, wouldn't it?”

“No, it wouldn't,” Millicent sighed heavily. “Trust me on this one, okay?”

Draco wanted to tell her that he couldn't trust anyone, but instead just nodded. “Alright, arrange things with Dora. If she can't come up with something appropriate to wear though, I'm going alone. This is a very short period of time in which to ask her to come up with something to wear to a black-tie gala.”

“Oh, don't worry, she has something,” Millicent said, smiling at him. “I might have already been planning this for two weeks.”

Draco shook his head. “I should have known.”

“Hey, I have your best interests at heart,” Millicent said, standing up. “I'll go call Dora. You go home.”

“Trying to tell me what hours to work now, hm?”

“No. You just look exhausted and you've completed everything on your schedule,” Millicent said. “So, you should go home.”

“Fine, I'll go home,” Draco said, reaching into a drawer and grabbing his keys and wallet. “I'll talk to you tomorrow, Millie.”

“Good evening, Draco,” Millicent said as she walked out of the room. 

A few minutes later, Draco was getting into his car. He thought about what Millicent had said as he began the drive home, but ten minutes into it, he knew exactly where he really wanted to go. He made a right turn at the next available opportunity and then headed in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.

After he found a place to park, Draco took a deep breath and reached up to take off his tie. He took off his suit coat as well, laying them both in the passenger seat before getting out of the car. When he walked inside the bar, Draco looked around and smiled.

He already felt better than he would have if he'd just gone home.

He made his way to the bar and found a place to sit far away from everybody else, waiting for Hannah. She was at the other end of the bar talking to someone, but when she spotted him, Hannah broke into a big smile and made her way to him. “Well, well, well. Look who it is.”

“Good evening, Hannah,” Draco said, smiling at her. “I told you I'd come back.”

“You told me you'd come back Saturday. This is Wednesday.”

“Felt like coming sooner,” Draco said. “Besides, I needed to thank you for not running to the papers about our conversation.”

Hannah just shook her head. “I told you I'd never do that and I meant it.”

“Still, thank you. It's been a while since I've been able to have a conversation like that and not have it show up in the tabloids the next day.”

“Nothing you say to me will ever end up in a tabloid, I promise,” Hannah said, reaching for a couple of bottles. “You want your free drink?”

“I'd like the drink, yes, but I insist on paying for it.”

“Rubbish,” Hannah said, smiling at him. “I promised you this drink on the house and I am holding to that. You want more, you pay for it. But this one is free.”

Draco laughed. “Alright, if that's what you want.”

“That's what I want,” Hannah said, beginning to mix it. “I've been trying to come up with drinks that you might not have had to try out on you while we search for your favorite. You ever have a Santa Fe Sidecar?”

“I've never even heard of that.”

“Green Dublin Apple?”

“I have no idea what that is either.”

“Surfer on Acid?”

Draco laughed. “What the fuck is that?”

“A Surfer on Acid is coconut rum, pineapple juice, and Jägermeister.”

“Hm,” Draco mused. “That sounds interesting.”

“Then that will be what I make for you next,” Hannah said, smiling at him as she tipped the shaker back and forth. “If you're up for it.”

“I'm up for it,” Draco said. “I'm ready to drink whatever you are willing to give me tonight.”

“Bad day?” Hannah asked.

“More frustrating than bad. This Pansy Parkinson nonsense won't go away, and the woman herself isn't helping things. I instructed my assistant to have the media department put out a statement denying it, which is something I never do. I think I really surprised Millie with that one.”

Hannah nodded and poured the drink into a glass. “Well, for what it's worth, I think it's a good thing. You shouldn't have to deal with all of that nonsense and not be able to point out that it is nonsense.”

“I certainly hope that this works because I know my mother isn't going to be happy about it.”

Hannah smiled and set the drink in front of Draco. “One Jerry the Icelandic Sailor.”

Draco smiled. “That name is never not going to be amusing.”

“Yeah, it's a pretty strange name, but lots of drinks have strange names. Doesn't change the fact that they're good. Now, drink up.”

Draco picked up the glass and took a long sip, smiling as he set the glass back down. “That's very good.”

“See, strange names don't mean bad drinks,” Hannah said, beaming at him. “Harry will be happy to know that you liked it.”

“This is Harry's favorite drink? And which one is Harry again?”

“Yes, it's Harry's favorite drink. And he's the one with the glasses. Ginny's fiancé.”

“Right,” Draco said, recalling the man in his mind. “Well, tell him that he has good taste.”

“Tell him that yourself on Friday.”

“Can't because of the gala,” Draco groaned. “I'm now taking my cousin to it. That is not going to be fun.”

Hannah shook her head as Draco took another sip of his drink. “What is wrong with taking your cousin to this gala? I'd think that would be more fun than some random woman that would start rumors again.”

“Dora's great, don't get me wrong. She's just not really the type of person I want to spend a lot of time around.”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means that our mothers, who are sisters, do not get along very well and every time I see Dora puts a lot of stress on my mother, and I try to avoid that.”

Hannah nodded. “So her mother is Andromeda? Or do I have her mixed up with Bellatrix?”

“No, it's Andromeda, and why on earth do you know that?”

“She knows it because it's my job and I've talked about it,” said an airy voice, and Draco turned to see a blonde woman sitting down next to him. He couldn't remember what Hannah had said was her name though.

“Hey! Manhattan?” Hannah said.

“Of course,” the woman said, and she turned towards Draco. “I am in charge of genealogy for the Black family. It's nice to finally meet you, Draco Malfoy.”

Draco remembered his grandmother's obsession with the Black family tree and nodded. “You're Luna Lovegood then.”

“That's me,” Luna said, smiling. “I take it Narcissa has mentioned me.”

“She's very interested in your work, especially since the Black bloodline is coming to an end.”

“It's not coming to an end,” Luna explained. “It's just that all of the next generations have different surnames than Black. That doesn't mean the family bloodline doesn't go on.”

Draco reached for his drink. “I suppose that is true. But the Black name is gone.”

“Yes, well, blame that on your mother's cousins being childless,” Luna said. “Your mother often talks about how disappointed she is that Regulus and Sirius have never produced Black heirs. That's why she's so determined that you produce Malfoy ones.”

“Ugh, don't remind me of that,” Draco said, reaching for his drink again. “I know I'm going to have to hear all about that as soon as she talks to me about this latest round of nonsense.”

“Yes, she seemed very happy that you had a girlfriend when I spoke to her today,” Luna said, smiling at Hannah when a glass was set in front of her. “Of course, she always is happy whenever you have a girlfriend.”

“I have not had a single girlfriend that I've actually liked or wanted,” Draco said seriously. “Pansy Parkinson isn't going to become one either.”

“Narcissa will be disappointed to hear that, I think, though she wasn't exactly complimentary towards Pansy's looks during our meeting today.”

Draco didn't even know what to say about that, so he turned his attention to Hannah. “You didn't tell me you know so much about my mother's side of the family.”

“I don't know much of anything about the recent members of the Black family, just their names,” Hannah said defensively. “Luna talks more about the older generations that are gone since that's generally her focus.”

“Narcissa said again today that she would like you to take more of an interest in the Black family history since you're going to be the one continuing it,” Luna said, taking a sip of her drink. “I brought up Dora and she immediately changed the subject. I suppose that means she's not getting along with Andromeda again. I'll find out more about that tomorrow when Andromeda comes into the office.”

Draco sighed heavily. “No, they're not getting along at all at the moment, which is why me taking Dora to this gala on Friday is going to be a disaster.”

Luna looked over at him in surprise. “You're taking Nymphadora to that gala?”

“How do you even know about that gala?”

“Narcissa was hoping that it would be your first public appearance with Pansy. That's when the disparaging comments on Pansy's looks came up. She did not believe that Pansy would look very good all fancied up like that.”

“I'm going to have to look up exactly who Pansy Parkinson is because I honestly have no idea who she is beyond some television presenter.”

“She's one of the presenters on Good Morning Britain,” Hannah said. “I usually put that on in the background while Neville's in the shower and I'm cooking breakfast.”

Luna just shook her head. “You really need to get some more sleep if you're up in time to make Neville breakfast.”

“I go back to sleep after he leaves for work,” Hannah said. “If I left breakfast up to Neville then he'd be eating a banana and that's it. That's not enough.”

Luna laughed. “I can picture Neville doing that. He's so lost in his own world whenever work is involved.”

“You can say that again.”

Draco tried to remember what Hannah had said Neville did and failed. “What does Neville do again?”

“Neville's a science teacher,” Hannah said, smiling. “He's damn good at it too.”

Luna just rolled her eyes. “Draco, you will soon learn that in Hannah's eyes, Neville is damn good at everything.”

Draco chuckled as Hannah glared at Luna. “He's won awards, Luna! Awards!”

“I know he has,” Luna said, shaking her head. “I was just teasing you. But you do think he's damn good at everything.”

“Because he is,” Hannah said, sighing. “At least to me.”

“I know, Hannah. Believe me, we're all glad that you found someone like him. The last couple had been serious assholes.”

“Ugh, tell me about it,” Hannah said. “Which is why we need to make sure Draco doesn't end up with a real bitch like some of his girlfriends have been. This is why I brought up Astoria.”

Draco groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Tell me you did not do that in front of her.”

“Of course not!” Hannah exclaimed. “Only with Ginny and Luna. I told you they would be all too willing of participants.”

“I barely know of this woman. I don't know her at all.”

“But you will,” Luna said, drawing Draco's attention to her. “And you will love her. We all do.”

Draco ran his hands over his face and reached for his drink, draining the glass and setting it down. “I'm ready for whatever you want to have me try next.”

“Surfer on Acid then since you laughed so much at the name earlier,” Hannah said. “But that is not getting you out of this discussion.”

“What discussion? Were we having a discussion?”

“Trust us, Draco. Astoria needs a good guy just as much as you need a good woman,” Luna said. “She seems to attract the very worst of the male part of the population. You, however, are not that.”

“Neither of you have any idea what I am.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Luna said, taking a sip of her drink. “But the one thing that I do know is that even knowing as little about you as we do makes you better than at least the last five boyfriends Astoria has had.”

“And from everything you said the other night, it is pretty clear that Astoria is better than any of the girlfriends you've had. Light-years better, in fact,” Hannah said, starting to mix his drink. “I think the two of you will get along brilliantly.”

“Getting along is very different than falling in love, which is what really needs to happen to me if I'm ever going to have these Black and Malfoy heirs that my mother is obsessed with.”

“There's a very good reason why she's obsessed with that,” Luna said seriously. “The Black line goes back to the Anglo-Saxon days.”

Draco's eyes widened. “What?”

“One of your ancestors was one of King Alfred's most trusted advisors,” Luna said, smiling at him. “It's really fun getting to trace that far back. The Black family has kept meticulous records of births, marriages, and deaths over the years. I've only just begun work on the Malfoy line. Narcissa has been giving me access to the Malfoy family records. It looks like, at least for the past several generations, those records were kept just as meticulously.”

“The first Malfoy in England came over with William the Conqueror and that's all I know,” Draco said. “You'll have to tell me what you find out.”

“You'll have to come in for an appointment and find out for yourself,” Luna shot back. “I don't come to this place to give out detailed information on your family tree.”

“Alright, then I'll have my assistant make me an appointment,” Draco said, holding up his hands. “I promise.”

Luna smiled at him. “Excellent. I'll try to work on my Malfoy research in the next few days then. Narcissa brought some very interesting records over to my office today and I can't wait to dig into them.”

“One Surfer on Acid,” Hannah said, setting the glass in front of him as someone else approached the bar. “I'll be right back.”

Draco reached for the glass as Hannah walked away and studied its color for a moment before bringing it to his lips and taking a big sip. “That's delicious.”

“Yes, those generally are,” Luna said, smiling. “Of course, you'll come to learn that everything Hannah makes is really good. There's a reason why she's the most talented bartender you'll ever meet.”

“She certainly knows more drinks than any bartender I've ever met,” Draco said, taking another sip. “But then again, I'm not in bars too often.”

“You'll have to change that then. Hannah really does like regulars.”

“I'm still not convinced that she's not just saying that because I'm a Malfoy.”

“She's not, trust me.”

“I can't trust anyone.”

“I think you can, you just don't let yourself,” Luna said, polishing off her drink. “I imagine it's a lot of pressure being the only Malfoy of the next generation. Being one of only two from the Black bloodline can't help that either.”

“You have no idea, Luna. Absolutely no idea.”

“I know I don't. But I also think that if you just allowed yourself to trust someone then you could get a lot of that pressure to go away.”

“You are probably right about that,” Draco said, taking another sip. “Still don't know if I can do it though.”

“If being a Malfoy means as much to you as your mother makes it sound like it does, then you'll eventually let yourself trust someone so that another generation of Malfoys happens. Because the only way that you're ever going to fall in love is if you trust someone.”

“And you think that I should attempt this with Astoria.”

“I think you should attempt trusting people with all of us,” Luna said. “I think you will really like Astoria though. She's amazing. Plus, she's a Greengrass.”

Draco nearly dropped his glass. “What?”

“Yeah, I know, they sort of went into seclusion when the old duke died and his son married a commoner, but Astoria is the niece of the current duke. She doesn't coast along on the fact that she is one though. Astoria is making her own way through life. She doesn't really get along with her family because of it. She doesn't really talk to them anymore. Especially her sister Daphne. Daphne uses the fact that she's a Greengrass entirely too much for Astoria's liking.”

“I've met Daphne several times. But I didn't even know that Daphne had a sister,” Draco said seriously. “I don't know anyone that knows that Daphne has a sister.”

“I'm sure there are plenty of people who know that Astoria exists. She's come up sometimes when I've been dealing with people researching other prominent bloodlines that relate to both the Blacks and the Greengrasses. There are no relations close enough that you should worry about it though. These are all centuries ago.”

Hannah came walking back to them then and took in the look on Draco's face with some amusement. “Don't like the Surfer on Acid?”

Draco's mind was going a million miles an hour trying to process the information about Astoria, so he didn't respond. Luna just smiled at Hannah and did so for him. “He likes it a lot, I think, but I just told him Astoria is a Greengrass and now he's sort of lost in his own world.”

Hannah sighed. “I thought we agreed we weren't going to tell him that.”

“I know we did, but I decided earlier today that it was better to let him know what he was getting into beforehand. I mean, she's going to know that he's a Malfoy. He needed to know that she is a Greengrass.”

“I think you're probably right about that, now that I think of it,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “Draco? You okay there, honey?”

Draco shook himself out of his shock and reached for his drink, polishing it off and trying to smile at Hannah. “Fine.”

Hannah didn't believe that for a second, but she figured the last thing he needed was to talk about Astoria, so she turned the subject back onto something lighter. “Do you want another drink? And Luna, let's tell him some stories about all of us. I think he'd have more fun tonight if we do that than if we keep talking about all of this.”

“I think you're probably right about that,” Luna said, and their attention switched to Draco.

Draco took a couple of deep breaths before nodding. “Stories would be great. And surprise me with the next drink, Hannah. Make me something you haven't even mentioned to me yet.”

Hannah thought about that for a moment and then grinned. “Then you're getting a Morning Glory.”

Draco forced a smile onto his face. “Can't wait to try it.”


	3. Chapter 3

The moment the car door closed, Draco reached up and undid the bow tie around his neck. He absolutely hated having to wear tuxedos, but they were the only appropriate thing to wear to galas like this one had been, and the sooner he could get it off, the happier he was going to be. He looked to his right as the car began to drive away, shaking his head at his cousin. “You couldn't have kept your hair a normal color for this evening?”

Nymphadora just laughed. “I thought the blue complimented my dress nicely.”

“It does, but it will also cause entirely too many headlines tomorrow morning,” Draco pointed out. “And I thought you promised your mother that you were going to limit the headlines from now on.”

“Oh, those headlines are going to happen anyway,” Nymphadora said dismissively. “I'm pretty sure that they caught me coming out of Remus's flat this morning. They've been circling him ever since the divorce was announced.”

Draco stared at his cousin with his jaw dropped. “Remus Lupin? The actor?”

“The one and only,” she said, a smile crossing her face. “He's amazing, Draco.”

“He's also at least fifteen years older than you.”

Nymphadora just shrugged. “It's thirteen, actually, and that doesn't matter to me in the slightest.”

“It will matter to your mother. So will the fact that he's not actually divorced yet.”

“I don't really care about that,” Nymphadora said, smiling at him. “Just as you shouldn't care about anything Aunt Narcissa thinks about you.”

Draco groaned and leaned his head back against the seat. “When did you talk to her?”

“When she found out that I was coming with you tonight. She asked me to get you drunk enough to spill on Pansy Parkinson.”

“I told her that was nothing but rumors,” Draco said bitterly. “Of course she doesn't believe me. Of course.”

“Well, to be fair, you always tell her that they are nothing but rumors, and then you go and date the woman these rumors are about for a while. I'm sure she just thinks that you're lying to protect an embryonic relationship again.”

Draco laughed. “There is no embryonic relationship. There never has been with any of the others either. I've just always arranged to meet them and then fucked them for a couple of months to get my mother off my back.”

Nymphadora couldn't help but chuckle. “So you finally admit that was what you were doing. My mother has suspected that for a while.”

“I'm sure Aunt Andromeda has shared that opinion with my mother too.”

“I don't know about that, but I suspect she's told Aunt Bella about it though,” Nymphadora said, reaching up and pulling pins out of her hair. “Thank Millie for sending stylists over to get my hair and makeup done for tonight, but fuck, I hate the things they do to my hair.”

“At least you don't have a piece of cloth tied so tightly around your neck that it feels like it's choking you,” Draco said, reaching out a hand. “Here, give me the pins.”

Nymphadora smiled at him and put the pins in his hand, adding to the pile with every one she managed to extract from her hair. “You don't have to have your tie tied quite that tightly, you know.”

“If I want it to stay looking the way that my father insists all Malfoy men wear their bow ties, then yes, I do.”

“I cannot tell you how happy I am that I don't have your father for a father. I am desperately sorry that you do.”

Draco sighed heavily. “He does his best. He just doesn't know any other way to be because Abraxas was this way with him.”

“I would have thought that Aunt Narcissa would get him to lighten up.”

“That's the thing, I think she has,” Draco said. “From the way that she talks about my grandfather, it sounds like my father goes easy on me in comparison. Mother says he's just worried about me being the only Malfoy of the next generation, like he was the only Malfoy of his generation. Then you add in the fact that the surname Black is going to die out and things get even worse.”

“Mum thinks that Aunt Narcissa is way too concerned about that,” Nymphadora said, still pulling pins out of her hair. “At least she and my mother have provided heirs. Aunt Bella hasn't even done that.”

“Yeah, but I think that Mother is happy about that. She doesn't want any of that Lestrange blood mixed in with hers.”

Nymphadora laughed. “Rodolphus is a weird one, isn't he? Still, his brand of crazy seems to suit Aunt Bella's perfectly.”

Draco laughed as well. “Yes, they are perfect for each other, that's for sure. I know that Father is quite glad that they are living in Paris at the moment, just because it keeps them away from me.”

“Oh, please, Aunt Bella loves you.”

“Yes, she does, and I think that's half the problem.”

Nymphadora laughed again. “Is your father afraid of Bellatrix?”

Draco shook his head. “Not afraid. He just severely dislikes her insanity. He thinks it reflects poorly on Mother and therefore me since we share the same blood.”

“I'm surprised he doesn't say the same thing about my mother.”

“Please, Aunt Andromeda is a dream compared to Aunt Bella and you know it,” Draco pointed out. “He definitely doesn't like your father though.”

“That has been clear to me since I was a child,” Nymphadora said. “It's clear from the disdainful way he says Ted.”

“He doesn't understand why anyone named Edward would care to go by such an undignified diminutive,” Draco explained. “His words, not mine.”

“I figured as much,” Nymphadora said, letting out a small cheer when she felt her hair drop down to her shoulders. “Finally.”

Draco watched as she dropped the last couple of pins into his hand. “I am so glad that I do not have to do that to my hair. How on earth can you stand having so many of these in there?”

“When they're not sticking into my skull, it's pretty easy to deal with. But whenever I let someone else do my hair for events like this, then they inevitably stick into my skull and it's annoying as fuck.”

Nymphadora messed around with her hair some more until it was hanging loosely around her shoulders, and she turned to Draco with a smile. “So, you ready to talk about it yet?”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Draco said, turning to look out the window.

“So my impression that you've been drinking at the Leaky Cauldron lately is the wrong one then?”

Draco's head whipped around to look at her. “Who caught me?”

Nymphadora just grinned. “No one caught you. I just figured it out.”

“How on earth did you do that?” Draco exclaimed.

“Draco, you tried to order a drink called Jerry the Icelandic Sailor tonight and I think the bartender thought you were insane. You clearly learned that from somewhere, and there is only one bar in all of London that makes drinks like that, and that is the Leaky Cauldron.”

“And how do you know that?”

“That girl that does the genealogy stuff for Grandmother took me there once,” Nymphadora said, shrugging. “Had me drinking something called a Georgia on My Mind. Absolutely amazing drink. I looked up recipes online and started making it for myself after that.”

“You don't go there and get it?”

“Let's just say that the night I was there was the night of the Kensington incident and leave it at that.”

Draco just shook his head. “The Leaky Cauldron is nowhere near Kensington.”

“I know. But I still managed to get drunk enough there to cause the Kensington incident.”

“I think your parents wanted to murder you over that.”

“I'm sure they did, which is why I am offering up the advice to be careful there. You don't need your own Kensington incident.”

“I'm sure that Hannah won't let it get that far,” Draco said. “She's kept a pretty close watch on how much I drink from the moment I walked into there.”

“Hannah?”

“Abbott, the owner and bartender.”

Nymphadora stared at him for a moment. “You actually know her name?”

“Of course I do.”

“Which implies that you've done some talking to her.”

“I don't know where you're going with this.”

“You don't have friends, Draco. You have made it a point not to have friends. But all of a sudden you know the name of the owner and bartender of the Leaky Cauldron.”

Draco sighed heavily. “It's not that I make it a point not to have friends. It's that I can't trust anyone enough to let them become a friend.”

“And yet you're making friends with this woman.”

“I don't know what I'm doing,” Draco exclaimed. “I just know that I've spent two nights in there, one of which was spent with Luna Lovegood, by the way, and not a single word of what I've talked to her about has made it into the papers. And you know that never happens.”

Nymphadora smiled at him. “So you're making friends with this woman.”

“Her name is Hannah, and no, I'm not.”

“Sure sounds like it,” Nymphadora pointed out. “And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. You seriously need some friends.”

“I need to be able to trust people,” Draco shot back. “Until that can happen, there will be no friends.”

“Well, I think that it's great that you want to trust someone, don't get me wrong. I'm just not sure this bar is the place to do that. I mean, there is a multitude of places where it would be more fitting to find someone of your stature.”

“Which is precisely why I like the Leaky Cauldron,” Draco said. “It feels more comfortable to me than any of these other, more appropriate places that you're talking about.”

Nymphadora studied him for a moment. “You're serious about this, aren't you?”

“Yes, I am,” Draco said firmly. “I am so sick of living this life, Dora. I just want to be myself for once.”

“Then I won't say anything about you going there to anyone,” Nymphadora said, smiling at him. “Just watch yourself, okay? I meant what I said about you not needing a Kensington incident.”

“Trust me, Dora, I'm not stupid enough to do something like the Kensington incident.”

Nymphadora reached out and shoved at Draco's shoulder. “Fuck off.”

Draco just laughed. “I'm telling you the truth and you know it.”

“I know,” Nymphadora huffed. “But I was drunk!”

“That doesn't matter to anyone and you know that too.”

“I got lectured by Grandmother for six hours after that, so yes, I know that too,” Nymphadora said as the car began to slow. “Are we at my place already?”

Draco looked out the window and nodded. “Looks like it.”

“Thank fuck. Now I can get out of this dress too,” Nymphadora said as the car came to a stop. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to Draco's cheek. “Thanks for the fun tonight, Draco.”

“It wasn't that much fun,” Draco pointed out.

“No, but it was better than sitting in my flat watching television,” Nymphadora said as her door was opened. “I'll talk to you later.”

“Alright,” Draco said, watching her get out of the car. When the door was shut and he was waiting for the driver to get back in the car, he reached for his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he was looking for, pressing the button to call it.

“Leaky Cauldron, this is Hannah,” came a cheery voice a few moments later, and Draco smiled.

“Hannah, it's Draco.”

“Hey! How did your fancy thing go tonight?”

“It was boring as shit and they had nothing good to drink.”

Hannah laughed. “So you're starting to appreciate things beyond whiskey and champagne. I knew I was rubbing off on you.”

“How out of place would I look if I showed up there in a tuxedo?”

“Incredibly,” Hannah said quickly. “And we're kind of busier than usual tonight, so if you want to do that, you better be prepared to end up in the papers because someone is sure to recognize you.”

“How late are you open then?”

“Doesn't matter. Come whenever you want. We'll be here.”

“All of you?”

“Yep,” Hannah said, and Draco could hear her smile through the phone. “If you're coming here tonight, then you're meeting everyone.”

“Then I guess I'm changing once I'm home and heading your way.”

“Sounds good, honey. I've got some new drinks for you to try too.”

“I want something called Georgia on My Mind,” Draco said. “Dora said she's had that there before.”

“I'm sure that was Luna's doing, but I can definitely make you that when you get here.”

“Then I'll see you in a bit.”

“Can't wait!”

Draco said his goodbyes and hung up the phone just as the car started to move again, and he thought about what he'd said to Nymphadora the entire way back to his penthouse. He just wanted to be himself for a while.

Though he didn't even know who that was.

When the car pulled up at his building, Draco got out of the car and tipped the driver handsomely before getting into the elevator and heading up to the penthouse. The moment he was inside, he ripped the jacket off and dropped it on the floor, leaving it there and walking towards his bedroom. He left other pieces of the tuxedo on the floor along the way, knowing that Millicent would just tell him yet again that he needed to take better care of his clothes and he'd just tell her yet again that he never wanted to see the tuxedo again.

She'd have it cleaned and it would be hanging in his closet by the end of the week, but he'd just pretend not to notice.

Once he'd changed into some more comfortable clothes that wouldn't make him stand out in the bar, he took the elevator back down and got in his car. He sat there for a moment and tried to tell himself not to be so fucking nervous about meeting Hannah's friends, then set out in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. By the time he got there, his hands were shaking and he was contemplating turning around and going back home.

But Draco got out of the car anyway, heading inside and settling himself at the bar. He ordered a shot of vodka from the guy that came over to get his drink order, and he knocked it back just as Hannah approached him. “Have some help tonight, I see.”

“Yeah, that's Ernie. Great guy. He'd be a good friend for you too.”

“One friend at a time, okay?” Draco said shakily. “I am so not ready to meet everyone.”

“Well, you've already met Luna, so that is one down,” Hannah pointed out before noticing that his hands were shaking. “Draco, honey, it's okay. It's just my friends.”

Draco sucked in a shuddering breath before shaking his head. “I really don't know if I'm ready for all of this.”

“Okay then,” Hannah said, reaching out and taking his hands in hers. “I don't want you to do anything you're not ready for. How about one of them? Do you think you could handle meeting one of them tonight? If not, just say so.”

Draco took a couple of deep breaths and then nodded. “One. But that's it. And they have to come to me, not the other way around.”

Hannah smiled at him. “Then you just wait right here, okay? I'll get Ernie to get to work on your Georgia on My Mind. I'll go get Hermione.”

“Hermione?”

Hannah nodded. “I think she'd be a good place to start.”

“Then I can't wait to meet her,” Draco said nervously.

“Relax, Draco. You can do this,” Hannah said before walking away. 

Draco wrung his hands together and tried to remind himself that he could walk into boardrooms all over the world and meet people that he'd never met before all the time. He could talk to them just as easily as he talked to anyone else, and there was really absolutely no reason as to why he needed to be so nervous just to meet Hermione. He knew he was capable of this.

But he also knew that in those boardrooms, he only talked about business and not himself, and there was no way that Hannah was going to let him get away with that tonight.

A glass was set in front of him a moment later, and Draco looked up to see Ernie smiling at him. “Thank you,” he murmured, but Ernie didn't go away.

“You've got to tell me if I mixed that right,” Ernie said. “I haven't made one of those in a very long time.”

“I wouldn't be able to answer that,” Draco said, and he found the words coming easier than he'd been thinking he was capable of a few moments earlier. “I've never had one before.”

Ernie gave him a puzzled look. “But you ordered it.”

“My cousin recommended it,” Draco said, picking up the glass. “And Hannah's been having me try all these drinks with weird names.”

“Ah,” Ernie said as Draco took a sip. “You're the one she's been doing this for. I was wondering who that was. How's the drink?” 

“Good,” Draco said, taking another long sip. “I can't tell you if it's mixed right, but it tastes good.”

Ernie smiled. “That's all I needed to hear.”

“Hey, Ernie!” came a call from the other side of the bar, and Ernie gave Draco another smile before walking away.

Draco took another couple long sips before he felt the stool next to his be pulled out, and by the time that Hannah was standing in front of him again, he'd drunk the entire thing. Hannah just shook her head and reached for the glass. “I'm not letting you get drunk, Draco.”

“Wasn't intending on that.”

“Good,” Hannah said firmly. “Draco, I would like you to meet Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Draco Malfoy.”

Draco turned and looked at the woman sitting next to him, and he swallowed hard. “It's nice to meet you,” he got out, but all Hermione did was smile.

“It is wonderful to meet you,” Hermione said. “Hannah has been telling us that we were going to meet you soon, but none of us were thinking that would be tonight. She said something about you being at a gala.”

“I was,” Draco said. “But I left as soon as I could and then came here.”

Hermione smiled again. “I'm glad to hear that. That means you're becoming more comfortable here, and really, that's all anyone wants from this place. Somewhere to go to have a drink and be comfortable.”

“I don't have anywhere like that, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep coming here.”

“You're definitely going to keep coming here,” Hannah said seriously. “I'll have Luna drag you back in if that's what it takes.”

“Trust me, Hannah, I want to come back,” Draco said, smiling at her. “I'm just not sure about meeting the friends yet.”

“Oh, we're harmless,” Hermione said, drawing his attention back to her. “And it's not like we don't know how to handle someone from a prominent family like yours. Astoria might not talk to her family, but she's still got their surname.”

“Luna was telling me that she's a Greengrass,” Draco said. “I'd really rather not think about that, to be honest.”

“Then we won't talk about it,” Hermione declared. “And it's not like we ever talk about it anyway. Luna just wanted you to be aware before you meet her.”

“Well, I am,” Draco said, turning back to Hannah when a glass was set in front of him. “Alright, what is this one?”

“This one is a Superman Shot. Cherry liqueur, banana liqueur, and raspberry vodka.”

“That sounds disgusting.”

“I guarantee you that it isn't,” Hannah said, sliding the glass closer to him. “Come on, drink up.”

Draco stared at it for a moment before picking up the small glass and knocking it back. He blinked his eyes a couple of times as he swallowed the liquid, and then he broke out into a smile. “Alright, you win on that one too.”

Hannah laughed. “Every time he's told me a drink sounds disgusting, he's liked it.”

Hermione laughed as well. “Sounds like Ron.”

“Definitely,” Hannah said, taking the empty glass away from Draco. “You have any other requests tonight or can I try out something else on you?”

“I will try whatever you come up with,” Draco said. 

“Then I'm going to make you an Apricot Sunray, Hermione's favorite.”

Hermione nodded. “It's amazing, Draco. You'll love it.”

“Then I can't wait,” Draco said, turning back to Hermione. “Maybe you can tell me more about yourself while Hannah makes it? I don't even know what it is you do.”

“Oh, I'm a photographer,” Hermione said as Hannah walked away. “I am actually doing a shoot with your aunt Andromeda for a magazine profile next week.”

“Then you must be a pretty special photographer because Aunt Andromeda will not work with just anyone.”

Hermione's cheeks flushed. “Thank you for the compliment.”

“I can't wait to see some of your work,” Draco said. “If you're photographing Aunt Andromeda, then I have a feeling that I've already seen some of it.”

“That is possible,” Hermione said. “I've done quite a few high-profile shoots in recent years.”

Hannah came back and slid a glass in front of Draco. “One Apricot Sunray.”

“And what's in this?” Draco asked as he picked up the glass.

“Cognac, sparkling wine, apricot liqueur, apricot nectar, lemon juice, and blood orange juice, with a couple of pieces of apricot and a brandied cherry. You'll love it.”

“It's got a nice color to it,” Draco said as he brought the glass to his lips.

“Yeah, it's a beautiful color,” Hermione said. “One of the reasons I like it.”

Draco took a long sip and smiled. “It's delicious.”

Hannah and Hermione both grinned. “Told you,” Hannah said, wiping down the bar in front of them. “Hermione, do you want one?”

“Of course,” Hermione said, nodding. “Thanks, Hannah.”

“No problem,” Hannah said. “Now, get to telling me about this photoshoot you've got with Andromeda Tonks. Ron sounded so excited when he mentioned it on the phone.”

“Yes,” Draco said. “Please tell me more about it. I'd really like to hear how you're going to approach it and what it's for.”

“So long as you tell me about this thing you went to tonight. Hannah said it didn't sound like you had a good time.”

“That's because I didn't,” Draco said, sighing. “You first, Hermione.”

“Draco,” Hannah said, making Draco laugh.

“I promise I'll talk about it. I just want Hermione to go first.”

“It's fine, Hannah,” Hermione said. “Plus, he can give me some tips on how to handle Andromeda. I have never worked with her before.”

“Then you're in for an experience,” Draco said. “I'll tell you everything you need to know.”

Hermione smiled. “Thanks, Draco.”

Draco brought his glass to his lips for a sip and he realized that things were going better than he'd thought they would. Maybe he could do this talking to other people thing better than he'd thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Astoria Greengrass loved her friends.

She'd never really had friends growing up, her father going along with his brother the duke's wishes and keeping the family isolated from the society they should have been growing up in. Still, she was groomed to be a socialite during her childhood, expected to just live off the Greengrass family fortune once she turned eighteen and was considered an adult. Then, and only then, would she be allowed to venture out into the society that her mother thought she should have been a part of the whole time. Her mother never had liked the restrictions put on the family by the duke and she put all her faith in Astoria and her sister Daphne to go out there and restore prestige to the Greengrass name. 

Daphne had done this by getting ridiculously drunk and falling out of nightclubs at two a.m., ending up on the pages of tabloids as she worked her way through the sons of the elite. Her mother had not been happy about this behavior and told Astoria that she was the family's only hope. Astoria was to go out into the world and let everyone know that the ladies of the Greengrass family did not just behave as Daphne did. Astoria was to be the perfect lady, find a suitable husband, and live her life going from one social event to the next, giving her husband a couple of children along the way. Her mother had it all planned out for her.

Astoria wanted none of that. 

A conversation with her uncle the duke had resulted in her parents agreeing to her attending Oxford instead of just entering the society life like they wanted. But it was when Astoria graduated that the real problems started to occur. Her parents were expecting her to do as they wished, but Astoria had other plans.

Astoria took a job as an English teacher.

To say her parents were horrified would be an understatement. They ordered her to quit the job before it even began and come home so they could remind her of what it meant to be a Greengrass. Astoria refused, and the rift between her and her parents was born. She'd attempted communication with them a few times in the past but was always rebuffed. Speaking to Daphne was the last thing in the world she wanted to do, so she didn't attempt that at all. 

It had been three years since she'd last spoken to any of them. She'd thought her parents would be happy she wasn't going to disgrace the Greengrass name the way Daphne was. Apparently, they thought that what she was doing was what was disgracing the Greengrass name. 

Astoria would never understand this.

She'd met Neville four days into her teaching job, and they had bonded in the school's cafeteria over their hopes and fears for the future. They were passionate about their students and found each other's company a real comfort during those first very scary days.

Neville invited Astoria to come have drinks with him and his friends on a Friday night about three months after they'd met, and after making sure that Neville didn't mean for it to be a date, she'd said she'd go. When she'd been introduced to everyone, she instantly felt comfortable with them. She still didn't have many friends, and when she was invited to join them again, she jumped at the chance. It wasn't long before Astoria's presence at the Friday night meetup was a given, no invitations needed, and she felt more understood and accepted than she ever had before.

Astoria loved her friends so much for giving her those feelings when no one else ever had. 

When she'd heard that Draco Malfoy was in the Leaky Cauldron that first Friday night, she hadn't thought much of it. Even people like the Malfoys needed to slum it every once and a while, and Astoria knew very well that despite how much she loved the place, the Leaky Cauldron was definitely slumming it for someone of his stature. She'd glanced over at him a couple of times during the night and that was it. It was going to be the only time she'd ever see Draco Malfoy and she knew it.

Then she found out that he'd come in the following Wednesday.

Then he showed up there again that next Friday.

And as Astoria sat at a table across from Ginny the following Tuesday, there he was again, sitting at the bar and trying whatever drink it was that Hannah put in front of him. 

Astoria was beyond perplexed as to why he was still coming there.

“Go introduce yourself,” Ginny said, breaking Astoria of her thoughts. “I'm sure he won't bite.”

Astoria laughed and reached for her drink. “Very funny.”

“I'm being serious though,” Ginny said. “Go introduce yourself.”

“Draco Malfoy is not exactly someone that I want to be seen with,” Astoria said quickly. “Not even here.”

Ginny just shook her head. “I'm not telling you to marry him, Astoria. I'm telling you to go up to him and say 'Hi, I'm Astoria,' and let a conversation happen from there.”

“And I'm telling you that I should be staying as far away from a Malfoy as I can,” Astoria shot back. “You saw the papers this morning. The last thing I need is to be on the front page of _The Sun_ as Draco's new baby mama.”

“He seemed pretty adamant that those claims were all bullshit,” Ginny pointed out. “He doesn't even know who this Susan Bones is.”

Astoria stared across the table at her until Ginny shrugged. “What? Hannah introduced us when I got our drinks. He seems to be exactly as Hannah has been saying. A really lonely man who needs some friends. He barely knew how to interact with me, and that sounds exactly like how Friday was with Hermione. It's not all that different from how you were when you first showed up here.”

“You're not going to let this go until I go over there, are you?” Astoria said after a moment. “We're supposed to be discussing wedding plans.”

“There is nothing that needs to be discussed urgently tonight. It was really just an excuse for a girls' night.” Ginny smiled at her. “Come on, go talk to him.”

Astoria sighed and drained her glass, shoving her chair back and standing up. “I'll be right back.”

“Just talk to him for a while!” Ginny called out as Astoria walked away, making Astoria shake her head.

She was going to introduce herself, get a refill on her drink, and that was it.

When Astoria got to the bar, the seat to his right was open, so she pulled the stool out and sat down on it. Hannah gave her a big smile and reached for her empty glass. “Ready for another one?”

Astoria nodded and then looked to her left, and she was immediately struck by beautiful gray eyes. She stared at them for a moment before she shook herself out of that and smiled. “Hello. I'm Astoria.”

“Draco,” he said, holding out a hand. “It's nice to meet you.”

“It's nice to meet you too,” Astoria said, reaching out her hand as well. 

When their hands met, the jolt that went through Astoria shocked her. She pulled her hand back and quickly turned back to the bar. “Hannah, you got that drink yet?”

“Astoria, I can't make this that fast and you know it,” Hannah said, looking around for a moment. “Fuck, out of simple syrup. Got some in the back. I'll go get it.”

Hannah walked away before Astoria could tell her to forget it, and she took a deep breath before turning to Draco. “This doesn't seem the type of place a Malfoy should be in.”

“It's not the type of place a Greengrass should be in either,” Draco said, smiling at her. “But that's exactly why I like it.”

Astoria couldn't help but smile back. “It's why I like it too. Plus it has the added bonus of making sure that I don't run into my sister.”

Draco laughed. “Daphne is certainly interesting. I've met her a few times and she was entirely too concerned with trying to get me to sleep with her.”

“That wouldn't surprise me. She'd like nothing more than to be the one on the front page claiming to be your baby mama.”

Draco sighed heavily. “I have never met that woman in my life. And yet this is what happens to me, over and over and over. I hate it. I hate it so much.”

“I imagine that makes it hard to trust people,” Astoria said. “I know that I certainly had a hard enough time learning to trust people. I can only imagine how hard it is for you.”

Draco studied her for a moment. “You had trust issues?”

“Still do, to be honest,” Astoria replied. “I mean, I've got this great group of friends now thanks to Neville, but anyone outside of it? It takes a long time.”

“Worried about people exploiting your surname?”

“Absolutely,” Astoria said, nodding. “It took that incident with Daphne and Jeremy Gamp for me to admit that I was one of those Greengrasses to my friends. I really had nothing to worry about with them, but with others? I have everything to worry about. And I'm not a high profile individual like you are. I imagine the people who want to be near you just because you're a Malfoy is staggering.”

“Beyond staggering,” Draco answered. “Overwhelming as fuck is more like it. I've never met anyone that doesn't care about my surname. Well, until I came in here, though I'm still not sure that I can trust Hannah or any of you when you tell me that you don't.”

“How about I make you a deal then?” Astoria asked. “I won't care that you're a Malfoy if you don't care that I'm a Greengrass.”

Draco stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Deal.”

“Excellent,” Astoria said as Hannah came back. “Find it, Hannah?”

“Yeah, Ernie always puts it in a different spot back there. I'm honestly thinking of labeling where everything goes so this stops happening,” Hannah said, setting the bottle down. “Drink will be ready in a moment, Astoria.”

“What is it that you're drinking?” Draco asked. “I don't think Hannah's made me anything that involves simple syrup yet.”

“That's because I haven't,” Hannah said, looking around. “Fuck, forgot the grapefruit. Be right back again.”

Astoria shook her head at what she was quickly deducing in her mind. She just knew that Hannah had decided that Draco Malfoy would be an excellent candidate for Astoria to date, and Astoria was going to have to correct Hannah on that assumption the moment she got a chance. 

“What is it that you're drinking?” Draco asked again. “It sounds like it's something Hannah hasn't made me yet.”

Astoria smiled at him. “It's a Fright Night in the Grove.”

Draco laughed at that name. “Why are the names of these drinks so funny?”

“I found them pretty amusing when I first came in here too, but Hannah's never given me one that's been bad.”

“She hasn't given me one that's been bad either,” Draco said. “I'm going to hate the next champagne only thing I'm going to be at after all of these different drinks.”

“Ah, yes, champagne soirees,” Astoria said. “My mother used to insist that the only alcohol I ever drank was champagne. Said it was the only thing a proper lady ever needed to experience.”

Draco chuckled. “She wouldn't like my mother then. My mother's a whiskey lady.”

Astoria grinned at that. “Well, Narcissa Malfoy is clearly a woman of taste.”

“You're a whiskey lady?”

Astoria nodded. “Fright Night in the Grove when I'm here, but when I'm somewhere else, it's whiskey neat.”

“I think you and my mother would get along brilliantly just from that piece of information,” Draco said, turning his attention to Hannah when she came back. “I hope you brought enough to make me one of those too.”

“I will make you one as soon as you've finished yours,” Hannah said, smiling at them. “I think you'll really like this one. Astoria has good taste.”

“What is it that you're drinking now?” Astoria asked.

“A Manuka Maple Sour, I believe,” Draco said, picking up his glass. “Did I get that right?”

“You did indeed,” Hannah said, working on mixing Astoria's drink.

“I don't think I've ever had that one,” Astoria said, looking up at Hannah. “What's in it?”

“Honey vodka, maple syrup, lemon juice, and a few dashes of bitters,” Hannah said without looking up. “You should try it sometime.”

“How about next?” Draco suggested. “I will try your favorite and you try this one.”

Astoria thought about her plan to get her drink and then go back to Ginny before sighing heavily. “Alright. But then I'm going back to Ginny. We've got wedding plans to discuss.”

Hannah laughed. “Oh, honey, you didn't even notice, did you?”

“Notice what?” Astoria asked.

“Look back at the table you were sitting at,” Hannah said, and Astoria turned around.

Ginny was gone.

Astoria sighed again and turned back to Hannah. “I do not appreciate this.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Hannah said, faking innocence. “Ginny obviously just had somewhere else to be.”

“Don't, Hannah,” Astoria said seriously. “Just don't.”

Draco looked between them for a moment before realizing what was happening. “I told you not to try to fix me up with anyone.”

“Why do you think that's what I'm doing?” Hannah asked, shaking her head. “Ginny and I just thought that getting you two to meet was a start.”

“You didn't even know I was going to come here tonight,” Draco pointed out.

“No, I didn't,” Hannah said honestly. “That doesn't mean I didn't take advantage of the fact that you are.”

Draco ran his hands over his face. “Hannah.”

“It's alright, Draco. I understand,” Astoria said. “I'll just take my drink and leave you alone.”

“It's not that,” Draco said, looking over at her. “It's nice to talk to someone who has a little bit of understanding of what I'm going through right now. I just can't trust anyone.”

“And I understand that too,” Astoria said. “But if you want to be alone, then I'll leave you alone.”

“No, please, stay,” Draco said, forcing a smile onto his face. “I'm trying to get better at things like this anyway.”

Astoria looked over as Hannah set her drink on the bar and then walked away. “Hannah, Ginny, and Luna are matchmakers,” she said as she reached for it. “So be prepared for them to do this with you a lot.”

“They do it with you a lot?”

“Of course,” Astoria said, taking a sip. “They seem to view it as their mission to find me a husband. I'd settle for a boyfriend who's not an asshole to start. Unfortunately, I seem to attract them.”

“Do they find out who you are and then...”

“Yes,” Astoria said, cutting him off. “I have to tell them because they need to know what they're getting into and then suddenly I'm a meal ticket instead of a girlfriend and it's the worst thing ever.”

“Well,” Draco said, playing with the edge of the napkin in front of him, “maybe you need someone who doesn't need you for a meal ticket.”

“Yes, well, I'll only find one of those in places that I make a point of not going,” Astoria said, shaking her head. “I'm not going to just live by the fact that I'm a Greengrass like my sister is. That's the only reason any of those men would talk to me anyway. They'd all want my surname too.”

“I'm sure that someone will come along and not care about your surname,” Draco said, picking up his drink. “I'm hoping that someone comes along that doesn't care about mine, though I think it is extremely unlikely.”

“I know that feeling well,” Astoria said, holding up her glass. “To hope for someone who doesn't care.”

Draco clinked his glass against hers. “To hope for someone who doesn't care.”

They smiled at each other before they both downed their drinks. Hannah was busy down at the other end of the bar and Ernie wasn't working that night, so they had no choice but to wait for Hannah to come back. 

“What is it that you do?” Draco asked.

“I'm an English teacher at the same school Neville works at,” Astoria explained. “That's how we met, actually.”

“English was my favorite subject,” Draco said, smiling. “I don't get to read near as much as I'd like to anymore, but I always make it a point to read some of the classics every year.”

“What was the last classic you read then?”

“ _The Canterbury Tales_ , I think.”

Astoria laughed. “You really do mean classics, don't you? I don't think I've read that in ages.”

“I like it a lot,” Draco said, shrugging. “I'm in love with Shakespeare, but I don't want to just read him. I read a lot of Dickens too.”

“The ones I always read over and over are the Brontës and Austen,” Astoria said. “That's probably a stereotypical girl answer, but they really are the ones I go back to. Shakespeare is always a good read, but I'm not as familiar with Dickens, I must say. I go more towards Lewis Carroll when I want to read something like that.”

“Lewis Carroll is another good one,” Draco said. “I don't read him as often as the others. Only when I really feel like getting in touch with my childhood. I spent a lot of time reading when I was a kid. There weren't exactly many other children around.”

“That's exactly what I did,” Astoria said, smiling at him. “Daphne always wanted to play with dolls and I always wanted to read. I honestly don't know why my parents were so surprised that I wanted to do something like teaching English classes. Anyone with a brain would have been able to tell that this is my passion.”

“I am very glad that you get to work with your passion then,” Draco said, sighing. “I don't even know what mine would be. I just know that it's definitely not what I have.”

“Maybe you should figure that out then,” Astoria said, nodding when Draco looked at her. “It might make you happier.”

“It's going to take something monumental to make me happy, and I have no idea what that would be. My mother would like it to be a wife so there can be another generation of the Malfoys, but meeting someone is so difficult, and when you can't trust anyone, it's even worse.”

“You've got to learn to trust people then. I had to. It still takes me a long time to trust someone new, but having someone that I can confide in and know that things are going to stay between the two of us is an amazing feeling. Anything I ever told Daphne was almost immediately reported back to my mother, and that just caused epic fights between all three of us. It's much nicer to be able to just call up one of my friends and talk with the knowledge that they won't tell anyone else what I said unless I say they can.”

“Hannah hasn't said a word to the press about anything we've talked about,” Draco said after a moment. “I'm shocked by that, to be honest.”

“That doesn't surprise me,” Astoria said softly. “But you can trust her. You can trust all of us.”

“Everyone keeps saying that to me. I guess I'm just going to have to find that out.”

“I think you'll find it easier than you're thinking it will be. It was easier for me than I was suspecting.”

Draco let a genuine smile cross his face. “You really do understand, don't you?”

“It certainly seems like I do, on a surface level at least. I can't really speak beyond that.”

“I think I'm going to really enjoy talking to you, Astoria. This has definitely been the easiest conversation I've had with any of you so far.”

Astoria smiled back. “I think I'm going to really enjoy talking to you too, Draco. My friends are great, but there are some things they just can't understand. I have a feeling that you might.”

Hannah came back at that moment with a bright smile on her face. “So, looks like you two are ready for those drinks. That is, if you're staying, Astoria.”

Astoria looked over at Draco for a moment, took in those beautiful gray eyes, and then smiled at Hannah. “I'm staying.”

Hannah gave her a knowing look as she reached towards the empty glasses. “Then there will be one Fright Night in the Grove coming up for you, Draco, and one Manuka Maple Sour for you, Astoria.”

“Thanks, Hannah. Can't wait.” Draco looked over at Astoria and smiled. “Will you tell me about your students? I'd love to know what level you're teaching at.”

Astoria smiled back. “Gladly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!


	5. Chapter 5

“Draco, we need to talk to you about something.”

His father's statement didn't surprise Draco. They were nearly an hour into the dinner that he knew had been planned despite his mother trying to make it look like an impromptu invitation, and Draco suspected that he knew exactly why this dinner had been arranged.

“We have nothing to talk about,” he said rather sharply, immediately inwardly cursing himself for it. “There's just nothing to talk about.”

“We need to discuss the woman in the newspapers,” Narcissa said calmly, and Draco was surprised by the tone of her voice. Normally when things like this ended up in the newspapers, she was angry. “It is a situation that your father and I have been discussing and that needs to be resolved.”

Draco reached for his drink and downed it before looking up at his mother, and he was surprised by the sincerity in her eyes too. “What does it matter? It's no different than anything else that ever ends up in the papers. Trying to get it to go away will just make everything worse.”

“Not in this case, son,” Lucius said, reaching out and taking Narcissa's hand on the table. “Your mother says that you have denied even knowing this woman and that there is no way that her child could possibly be yours.”

“I'm not lying,” Draco said flatly.

“We know, Draco,” Narcissa said, her voice soft. “But there is the fact that this woman is out there proclaiming to the world that she is pregnant with your child, and unless action is taken, she will continue to spread these lies.”

“What sort of action can possibly be taken?” Draco asked, laughing. “Nothing is going to change the public's perception that this is my child.”

“It's very simple,” Lucius said. “We put out a statement denying her claims, but also state that you are willing to take a paternity test to determine if her claim is accurate. Since you have never met this woman, that should be enough to make her back down and go away. If it doesn't, the lawyers and I think that the most that you will ever have to do is actually take the paternity test. Only the results of that coming back positive would change what will happen.”

“There's no way that the results of that test would come back positive,” Draco said seriously. “I haven't had sex in at least six months.”

He closed his eyes the moment the words left his lips, and he took several deep breaths to get himself calm. There was absolutely no reason to admit that to his parents. “Is there more whiskey?”

Draco heard his father call out for one of the servants and then a moment later felt the presence of someone by his side, the sound of his glass being refilled echoing through his ears. When he heard the door to the room be closed, he opened his eyes and reached for the glass, determined that he was going to completely forget what he'd just said to his parents.

“That saddens me, Draco,” Narcissa said, and Draco's mortification deepened. “However, I am glad that it means you are not out there making foolish mistakes. Just look at what happened with Theodore and that Greengrass girl.”

Draco was immediately confused. “What?”

“Theodore Nott knocked up that Greengrass girl. Daphne, I believe her name is,” Narcissa said, shaking her head. “It's quite scandalous.”

Thoughts of Astoria went through Draco's head. He wondered if she even knew about her sister and Theo, let alone about her sister being pregnant. “That is not exactly public knowledge.”

“No, not yet,” Lucius said, “but his father told me while we were golfing in Mallorca last week. He would have much preferred for the child to come after the marriage, but there's nothing that can be done about that now.”

“If they even get married,” Narcissa said dismissively. “There is no guarantee of that at the moment.”

“Surely Mr. Nott would want them to get married,” Draco said.

“Oh, yes, of course, he would,” Lucius said. “It seems there is some resistance coming from the Greengrasses though. Daphne's uncle is the duke and he would need to approve of any match, and it sounds like he's not very approving of Theodore. His father is scandalized by that though. You know he has a very high opinion of his family, even if it's not necessarily shared by everyone else.”

“I thought the Notts were on that list of the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight' that ridiculous magazine came up with a few years ago,” Draco said. “That list of the twenty-eight most influential families in the country.”

Narcissa laughed. “Yes, they were, but you know that family well, Draco. They think they're better than everyone else on that list. Even us.”

Draco couldn't help but laugh at that. “That sounds like Theo's father, to be sure.”

“Regardless of Theodore's position with the Greengrass girl, your mother and I are both pleased to know that you're not putting yourself in that position,” Lucius said, bringing the conversation back to its original point. “Though if you haven't had sex in six months, I suggest that you find yourself a girlfriend.”

Draco felt his cheeks redden as he reached for his glass again. “I would prefer to stop speaking about this.”

“Draco, you know the importance of finding a woman to settle down with,” Narcissa said seriously. “And while I'm comforted by the thought that you don't want it to be in a situation like Theodore's or what this woman from the papers is claiming, that still doesn't take care of the fact that you are the only hope of both of our families when it comes to the future generations.”

“Mother.”

“Narcissa is right, Draco. Finding a wife and providing heirs is important.”

“Father.”

“Draco, we only have your best interests at heart,” Narcissa said, drawing Draco's eyes to her. “I hope that you understand that.”

“I do understand that, Mother. I just don't want to talk about my sex life with my parents,” Draco said seriously.

Narcissa smiled. “I can understand that. Shall we return to the topic of how to deal with this woman?”

“Yes, let's,” Draco said. “I will agree to all of this paternity test stuff and see if that gets her to go away, even if I have to take the damn test to get that to happen.”

“Excellent, son,” Lucius said as the door opened. “Oh, here comes dessert.”

Draco turned his attention to the plate being set in front of him, and when his mother started talking about how the roses were going to look on the south lawn that summer, he tuned out the conversation and tried to guess how long it would be until he could get to the Leaky Cauldron.

He needed several drinks after this meal.

In the end, it was another two and a half hours before he was able to leave his parents' house, and Draco spent the drive back into London trying to decide whether he should tell Astoria what he had learned about her sister or not. She'd seemed pretty adamant that she didn't want to talk about Daphne at all, but Draco also thought that he had information that she should hear from him instead of reading about in the newspapers when it inevitably broke. 

The Notts might not be as important as they thought they were, but they were still part of the upper echelon of high society. They were still part of that bullshit 'Sacred Twenty-Eight.' The Greengrasses were, for all their seclusion, as well, and the second one of those papers got wind of Theo and Daphne's situation, it would be front-page news.

Draco debated going back to his penthouse and changing into something a little more casual before deciding he needed the drinks more, so he went straight to the Leaky Cauldron once he was back in London. It was very busy when he walked in, every seat at the bar was taken, and Draco suddenly didn't know what to do. He'd never sat anywhere but the bar before, and he didn't know how he was supposed to interact with Hannah if he wasn't sitting at the bar.

“Draco!”

Draco turned at the sound of his name and saw Neville waving to him from a table near the back, and Draco took a deep breath and headed his way before anyone started staring at him. When he got to the table, he noticed that two other men were sitting there with Neville. One was Harry but Draco could not remember the other's name, and he just knew that he was about to embarrass himself. Still, he pulled out one of the empty chairs and sat down, giving everyone a weak smile. “Hello.”

“I don't think you've ever officially met Harry and Ron,” Neville said, and Draco was instantly glad that Neville had said the other man's name. “So, Draco, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Guys, this is Draco Malfoy.”

Draco gave Ron a confused look when he heard his last name. “Weasley?”

Ron just nodded. “Yeah, I'm one of them.”

Neville and Harry gave each other a confused look, but Draco just smiled. “Of all the families they put on that bullshit list, I've always felt like yours was the only actual family. The rest of us seem more like corporations.”

Ron gave him a large smile in return. “I think that when you have as many children as my parents had, you're bound to feel more like a family then some of the rest of you are.”

Draco laughed. “Seven children certainly would force things to feel more like a family, though I think my mother would have killed my father should she have to go through as many pregnancies as your mother did.”

Ron laughed as Neville looked back and forth between them. “Are you talking about that 'Sacred Twenty-Eight' bullshit?”

Draco nodded. “It's on my mind. Came up with my parents tonight and then the moment I heard the name Weasley, it was the first thing that jumped to mind.”

“You're on that bullshit list?” Harry asked Ron.

“Yes,” Ron groaned. “That's entirely because of my great-grandparents, I'm sure. It's certainly not because of my parents.”

“How did I not know that your family was on that list?” Harry said, shaking his head. “No wonder Mum perked up when I first told her Ginny's name.”

“Ginny?” Draco asked, confused.

“Is my sister,” Ron answered. “My only sister.”

“She didn't mention that you were related when we met,” Draco said. “But I did only speak to her briefly. Not enough to call it a real conversation.”

“Oh, did you meet her when she was in here the other night?” Harry asked. “She said she met up with Astoria to discuss some wedding plans.”

“She was going to do that,” Neville interjected. “And then Draco showed up so Han and Gin decided that it was better to make Draco and Astoria meet than anything else. She ditched Astoria so that she'd have to sit at the bar and talk to him.”

Ron laughed as Harry shook his head. “I'll talk to her about that,” he said to Draco. “She should not be getting involved in setting you up.”

“It's alright,” Draco said, smiling. “It was nice to talk to Astoria for a while. She just understands some things that I didn't think anyone else could really understand.”

“She's more likely to do that than any of the rest of us, that's for sure,” Ron said. “My family might be on that bullshit list but we are definitely not part of the high society that you two were raised in.”

Draco sighed. “You're lucky.”

“You're rich, so I'm not so sure about that,” Ron said.

Draco gave him a strange look. “The Weasleys are worth a considerable amount of money.”

“Used to be,” Ron corrected. “My idiot great-grandfather gambled most of it away on bad investments and in Monte Carlo. Not that there's nothing left, but most of it is all tied up in the properties that my grandparents own.”

Draco's eyes widened. “That is not exactly public knowledge.”

“It will be once my grandparents die, but until then, they are content to just let it be thought otherwise.”

“I'm learning all kinds of things today,” Draco said before a glass was set in front of him.

“This is a Salty Dog,” Hannah said when Draco looked up at her. “When you're ready for your next one, just flag me or Ernie down and I'll get you something else.”

Draco grinned at her. “Thank you, Hannah.”

“I'm happy to see you sitting here, by the way,” Hannah said as she walked away. “You should do it more often!”

Neville laughed as Draco reached for his drink. “She's not going to leave you alone until you're one of our best friends. I hope you know that.”

“That's alright,” Draco said, taking a sip of the drink. “Does she know a bad drink?”

Neville grinned. “Hannah prides herself on everything tasting good.”

“Well, it all certainly has so far,” Draco said.

“You figured out a favorite yet?” Harry asked as he reached for his own drink.

Draco shook his head. “Some have been better than others, but there hasn't been one that just sticks out to me yet.”

“It'll happen,” Ron said. “Happened to all of us eventually.”

Draco nodded and took another sip as Neville smiled. “Now, to get back to what we were talking about before Draco showed up, did you really buy it, Ron?”

“Buy what?” Draco asked.

Ron just reached into the coat of his pocket and then set a small, velvet-covered box on the table. “Not a word about this to Hermione.”

Neville let out a noise that Draco could only classify as a squeal as Harry reached for the box, opening it up and grinning. “Gorgeous, Ron. You picked well.”

Neville grabbed the box from Harry's hand as Ron sat back in his chair. “God, I hope I did. It's not that I think that Hermione would say no, but she's so particular about her jewelry.”

Draco smiled as he realized what Ron had bought, leaning over to look at it. “So you're going to propose to Hermione, hm?”

Ron nodded. “This weekend when we go up to Scotland. I'm hoping that it'll be romantic. I kind of really suck at things like that.”

“I'm sure Hermione would disagree with that statement,” Harry said as Neville set the box back down on the table.

“I don't know about that,” Ron started, but Draco shook his head.

“How are you planning on doing it?”

“When we visit the Antonine Wall,” Ron said, a slight smile on his face. “Hermione loves places like that. We've been to Hadrian's Wall but never the Antonine, and I thought that it might be a nice memory to take home from it.”

“I think that sounds romantic,” Draco said. “Especially if she loves places like that.”

“I've been telling you for weeks that this is a good plan,” Harry pointed out. “Just have faith in it.”

“I can't believe that you even think that this isn't romantic,” Neville said. “It's about ten gazillion times more romantic than how I asked Hannah.”

“How did you ask Hannah?” Draco asked, making Neville laugh.

“I asked her while we were doing the dishes after breakfast one Saturday morning,” Neville said. “Didn't even have a ring. I just asked, and while I was busy being mortified that I'd done it so nonchalantly, Hannah just beamed and said yes. Took us another two weeks to get her a ring though. Figured that since I'd already asked, she should have some say in what she got.”

“Ginny's the one who asked me,” Harry said, laughing. “We were on the train to Manchester and she just said we should get married and asked what I thought about that. I told her I thought it was a great idea and then we went ring shopping as soon as we got there.”

“Well,” Draco said, taking a long sip of his drink. “I'm glad that you all have partners like that. I have never had anything even close to that and the way it's looking, I never will either.”

“Surely you think that you'll find love at some point,” Neville said. “I mean, that's kind of important if you want to keep the Malfoy line going.”

Draco looked over at Neville and Neville just shrugged. “I had lunch with Luna today. She was talking about research into the Malfoy line and how fragile it is right now.”

Draco sighed heavily. “Will I eventually find someone to have some Malfoy heirs with? Yes, because that's what my parents want. Does it mean that I'm going to be in love with them? Probably not. I can't trust anybody.”

“Fuck me, I thought Hermione was joking when she said we have another Astoria on our hands, but I guess not,” Ron said, shaking his head. “You're going to learn how to trust people, Draco. You're going to learn how to trust us.”

“I would love for you to be right, Ron, but I somehow doubt that.”

“No, seriously,” Harry said. “You're going to learn how to trust us. You're already trusting us. You just don't know it.”

“And how am I already trusting you?” Draco asked.

“You've been telling us things. All of us. And not a single word of it has ended up in the papers,” Neville pointed out. “And because of that, you've told us more things. It's the same sort of thing as what happened with Astoria at first. We didn't realize she was scared of that stuff ending up in the papers, but we knew that she had trust issues. But once we found out who she was and then that stuff still stayed out of the papers, she realized she could trust us. That will happen with you. I know it.”

Draco polished off his drink and looked over at the bar, catching Hannah's eye and shaking the empty glass until she nodded. “I want to believe that,” he said, setting the empty glass down. “I really do. But there's just too much shit going on in my life right now for me to be able to do that.”

“I can imagine,” Harry said. “That woman won't stay out of the papers about you.”

“Which one?” Ron asked. “The one who says she's his baby mama or Pansy Parkinson?”

Draco groaned and put his head down on the table. “I can't talk to you about this.”

Ron, Harry, and Neville exchanged looks before Neville reached over and put his hand on Draco's shoulder. “Draco, it's okay. You can talk to us about these things. We're not going to tell anyone what you said.”

Draco stayed that way for a moment before sitting back up and running his hands over his face. “I'm not going to lie to you. I hate my life so, so much.”

“Then let us try to help make it better for you,” Harry said.

“If you can't confide in anyone, then you can never process your feelings, and that will just eat you up inside,” Ron said, smiling when Draco looked over at him. “What? I'm a psychologist.”

Draco sighed. “You really think that?”

“I really know that,” Ron answered.

Draco sat there until a new glass was set in front of him. “What's this then?”

“This one is a Belmont Jewel,” Hannah said, snatching up the empty glass. “And Draco? Talk to them. It'll help.”

She left before Draco could say a thing, and he took a deep breath before reaching for the drink. After taking a long sip and determining yet again that it was a good drink, he set it down and forced a smile onto his face. “Okay then. I had dinner with my parents tonight and the subject of this woman who thinks she's having my child came up, and it was very awkward.”

“Then let's talk about it,” Neville said, and Draco nodded.

As he related the story of dinner to them, carefully leaving out the part about Astoria's sister, Draco found that talking to them about it made him feel better than he'd been thinking it would. Ron, Harry, and Neville seemed to genuinely care about not only listening but also what Draco was thinking and feeling, and by the time they were all saying goodnight at the end of the evening, Draco wondered if that was what it was like to have friends. 

If it was, then maybe he really could learn to trust them. 

Of course, he'd have to make sure that none of what he'd just said ended up in the papers first. Somehow, though, he just knew that it wouldn't.


	6. Chapter 6

There were seats at the bar when Draco walked into the Leaky Cauldron, but before he could head towards it, he spotted Astoria sitting by herself at a table. He stood there for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking towards it, smiling when Astoria looked up at him. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” Astoria said, smiling back. “How are you today?”

Draco pulled out a chair and sat down, sighing heavily. “As well as you can expect with what was in the papers today.”

“I suppose it's very impolite of me to ask this, but is it true?”

“I certainly hope not,” Draco said seriously. “The last thing I need is my mother having an affair with a man like that. But honestly, I don't think it is. My mother may be many things, but she's quite clearly in love with my father. I can't imagine her actually having an affair.”

“So, you haven't asked then? If news like that was in the paper about my mother, the first thing I would have done was ask her if it was true. Of course, if it was my mother, it probably would be. I've been convinced that she secretly hates my father since I was ten.”

Draco couldn't stop himself from chuckling. “Really?”

“Oh yeah, she can't stand him,” Astoria said, laughing. “But she'll never admit that to anyone. If she did, it would get back to my father, and then there would be a divorce, and my mother loves being a Greengrass more than anything. Certainly more than she has ever loved any of us.”

“I'm sorry you had to grow up in a family like that,” Draco said sincerely. “But as for asking my mother, no, I haven't done that. My assistant is surely asking my mother's about it though. I suspect I'll get an email at any moment from Millicent telling me what Blaise thinks.” 

Astoria studied him for a moment. “Are you talking about Millicent Bulstrode?”

“You've heard of her?” Draco asked. “Millie's in a relationship that her parents don't approve of, so they cut her off. We were somewhat friendly from a bunch of social events and she applied for the job. I didn't like any of the other candidates, and I wouldn't say that I'm particularly thrilled with Millie most days, but at least I have someone who somewhat understands what I go through, even though Millie has never been in the papers for anything.”

“My mother is friends with her mother from their days together at Marlborough College,” Astoria explained. “All of that with Millicent must have happened since our rift because I never knew anything about that before this.”

“Millie went to Marlborough too, and there she met Graham Montague, her boyfriend. Graham's family has money but not the kind of money that the Bulstrodes acknowledge as good enough for their daughter. Millie chose Graham over them and she's really quite happy about it.”

“I can understand that feeling,” Astoria said, smiling when Hannah approached them. “Hi, Hannah.”

Hannah set a couple of glasses onto the table, sliding one to each of them. “Another Fright Night in the Grove for you, Astoria, and Draco, this is a Dirty White Mother.”

Draco burst out laughing. “Why do I get the feeling that this particular choice has something to do with the papers today?”

“What can I say? I like a joke,” Hannah said, smiling. “For what it's worth, I hope for your sake it isn't true. When you want another, just catch my attention and I'll get you something else.”

“Thanks, Hannah,” Draco said as she walked away, turning his attention to Astoria. “I have something that I need to tell you, but I'm not sure I should actually say it out loud in a place like this. It hasn't hit the papers yet and I don't want to be the reason it does.”

Astoria sighed heavily. “It has something to do with Daphne, doesn't it?”

Draco nodded. “I know you don't like talking about her, but I really think you should hear this from me instead of just reading it in the papers.”

“Alright,” Astoria said, standing up. “I'll go get something to write on from Hannah. You can write it down and then I'll take it home and shred it or something.”

Draco nodded and reached for his drink as Astoria walked away, determining that it was good yet again. He wondered if Hannah had ever had a drink that she'd disliked because she certainly knew a lot that were very clearly good.

This wasn't going to be his favorite though. He could tell that immediately.

Astoria came back a moment later with a cocktail napkin and a pen, sliding them across the table. “Hannah didn't have any paper, so this will have to do.”

Draco nodded and picked up the pen, spending a moment to think about what to say before writing it down and sliding it back across the table to Astoria. She reached for her drink and drained it before picking up the napkin and reading what Draco wrote.

_She's in some sort of relationship with Theo Nott and according to his father, who told my father, Theo's knocked her up._

Astoria inhaled sharply and set the napkin down, turning it over so no one could look over at the table and read it. She reached for her drink again only to realize that it was empty, and Draco slid his glass across the table. “I think you need this more than I do.”

Astoria gave him a grateful look as Draco picked up the empty glass, looking over at the bar until he caught Hannah's attention, waving the empty glass. Hannah just shook her head before nodding, and Draco turned his attention back to Astoria. She'd polished off what was left of Draco's drink by that point, and Draco hated that he'd had to tell her about this. “I'm sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? You're not the fucking moron that my sister is,” Astoria said, forcing herself to take a deep breath. “My parents must be going mental.”

“Apparently there is some resistance from your uncle to approve of a marriage between them,” Draco said quietly. “Theo's father is scandalized by this slight on his family. Of course, that family thinks they are far more prominent than they really are.”

That got Astoria to chuckle. “Of all the people for her to hook up with, she picked a Nott. I know exactly why my uncle won't approve of a marriage between them. He'll never approve of it, even if that means that this child is born out of wedlock.”

“Why won't he do it?” Draco found himself asking even though he knew the thing to do was steer the conversation away from Daphne Greengrass. 

“My uncle wanted to marry Theo's aunt,” Astoria said, a wry smile on her face. “But even though he was the newly titled duke and everything, she said she'd never marry a Greengrass. He was so disgusted by that slight on our family that he married one of my grandfather's maids and has hated that family ever since.”

Draco was surprised. “And Daphne still hooked up with him?”

“I'm pretty sure that she doesn't know that,” Astoria said. “Daphne never paid any attention when we were being taught the Greengrass family history, and I was the only one present when my uncle shared that story. I'm not even sure my parents know that.”

“So he must be furious then.”

“Oh, I'd guarantee that he's furious. My father is probably furious because my uncle's furious, and my mother is just furious with my uncle because my uncle is the entire reason why we didn't grow up getting to be part of this society and therefore be capable of making respectable marriages.”

“And your parents have lost all hope that you'll be able to do that.”

“I'd like to be in love with the man I marry,” Astoria said softly. “I don't want to just marry someone for their surname.”

“I think my parents are so desperate for me to find someone at this point that they won't care about who that is,” Draco said, shaking his head. “My mother is still trying to get me to admit that I'm in this relationship with Pansy Parkinson. I've never even met Pansy Parkinson, and I'm really sure that desperation of theirs is why a television presenter is suddenly someone that they consider good enough for me. I know they would much prefer for me to marry a daughter of one of the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight' families, no matter how much that list is bullshit.”

“I imagine they were thrilled when rumors about you and the princess were going around then.”

Draco laughed. “My parents were very disappointed when I had to tell them that I'd only met her at a charity gala and that photo was taken there. I'll probably never be in her presence again and that's perfectly fine with me. The last thing I need is to add the pressures of being part of the royal family on top of being the only Malfoy of my generation and one of two in the Black bloodline as well.”

“I'm pretty sure that half the reason that I was allowed to go to Oxford for university was the fact that the future king was attending there at the same time. Nothing would have made my parents happier than for me to be a future queen, especially after how my sister behaves.”

“Well, I hope that you find a man that you love,” Draco said sincerely. “You deserve that more than a marriage of convenience.”

“You deserve that too, you know,” Astoria replied. “You deserve to find love too.”

“It would be nice,” Draco admitted. “But I don't think it's going to happen.”

“You really don't think you can fall in love?”

“I think I'd need to trust someone completely to do that, and I don't know how I'll ever be able to do that. I think that I might possibly be starting to trust all of you because the things I've told you have stayed out of the papers, but I also have no idea who else you've told about the things that I've said. I might believe that none of you are going to the papers, but I can't believe that one of those people won't.”

“Draco, we're not telling anyone anything about what you've said,” Astoria said seriously. “Have we talked about it with each other? Yes, I will admit that has happened. But that happens between friends all the time, especially when someone so clearly needs some like you do. It's the only way we're all getting to know you at the same time since you have never been around all of us at once.”

Draco stared at her until Hannah approached the table, setting a new drink down in front of Draco and frowning when she saw the two empty glasses in front of Astoria. “Did Draco not like the drink and you finished it?”

“I did like the drink,” Draco said, looking up at Hannah. “But Astoria needed it more than I did.”

“What?” Hannah asked, confused.

“I'll tell you later,” Astoria said, shaking her head. “Not in here.”

Hannah nodded. “So you need another drink then?”

“No, I think that's probably enough for me for the night,” Astoria said, smiling at her. “But I'll take a soda or something.”

“Alright, I can get that.”

Hannah started to walk away, but Draco called out to her. “Hey, what is this I'm drinking?”

Hannah laughed and turned around. “A Sweet Easter Bunny. Vodka, chocolate syrup, crème de cacao, and cherry brandy. You'll love it.”

Draco just shook his head as Hannah walked away. “This sounds absolutely disgusting.”

“It's sweet,” Astoria said. “Very chocolatey. But overall, it's pretty good.”

“You've had one?”

“Hannah insists that we all have at least one on Easter Sunday,” Astoria explained. “She puts them on special that day, but she won't let us get away with being here unless we have one.”

Draco reached for the glass and picked it up, staring at it for a moment before taking a tentative sip. “You were right,” he said. “That is very chocolatey.”

“You'll get used to it,” Astoria said, smiling at him. “Trust me.”

Draco nodded and took a bigger sip, smiling at the sweetness. “This tastes like something you should have with dessert.”

“Definitely. Hannah always makes sure there's lots of Easter candy available for everyone too. She's got a whole thing going on.”

“Is she busy on Easter Sunday?” Draco asked.

“Not really, but we all make a point of coming that night. You should join us next Easter. I think you'd have fun.”

“I'm not sure how that would be possible with all of the family things I have to attend that day. Grandmother has an entire day lined up for us every year, including an Easter egg hunt even though I, as the youngest, am twenty-seven.”

Astoria laughed. “Druella Black plans a family Easter egg hunt?”

“Yes, the entire extended Black family goes on an Easter egg hunt throughout the grounds. It is beyond absurd, and yet it always ends up being fun. Aunt Bella is rabid about how she has to collect the most eggs though. My parents are horrified at how she behaves.”

“Bellatrix seems like an interesting person.”

“She's insane,” Draco said. “You can just say it.”

“Maybe she is. I am not close enough to her to actually determine that. She is definitely the most colorful character out of your mother and her sisters.”

“Bellatrix is the crazy one, Andromeda is the bohemian one, and Mother is the aristocratic one. Grandmother cannot figure out how she ended up with such different daughters. And they all married men perfectly suitable to their personalities. Rodolphus Lestrange is just as crazy as Aunt Bella, Ted Tonks is as laid back as you will ever meet, and Father is, well, Father. He and Mother are perfect for each other.”

“Andromeda being the bohemian one certainly explains some of your cousin's adventures.”

Draco laughed. “Nymphadora is definitely like her parents, that's for sure. She causes far more scandals than my mother cares for, which is why she likes to pretend that I'm the only Black of my generation.”

“Does your mother not get along with Andromeda?” Astoria asked.

“They have a very tempestuous relationship, but at the end of the day, they're sisters. My mother loves her and always will, even if their husbands don't care for each other and Mother isn't fond of Dora. She'll never give up on Andromeda, even if she wishes that she and her family behaved a little more properly.”

“I wish I could say the same thing for my sister,” Astoria said quietly. “Right now I wish Daphne didn't exist.”

Draco reached out and took Astoria's hand. “I wish I could say that I understand, but I don't. I can't imagine it's easy though.”

“You're right, it's not,” Astoria said, pulling her hand away quickly. “It would probably be even harder right now if I was speaking to her. She'd no doubt be wanting to cry into my shoulder about the whole thing, and I'd just be disgusted that she got herself into this position. But Daphne has always been the reckless one, the one who doesn't take precautions for anything, so I'm not all that surprised that she has.”

“You're the exact opposite, aren't you?” Draco asked, and Astoria smiled.

“Yes. Though I might be a bit too cautious. Sometimes I wish I could do something reckless like Daphne, but then I just start worrying about all the consequences of it and can't bring myself to do it. The fact that I'm sitting here talking to you right now is something I don't quite understand.”

Draco gave her a confused look. “What?”

Astoria realized what she'd said and sighed. “I just don't want to be the girl that ends up in the papers. That's all.”

Draco nodded. “I understand. Do you want me to leave you alone then? There are a few open seats at the bar.”

Astoria shook her head. “No, stay. I'm rather enjoying our conversation for as much as I'm hoping someone isn't capturing it with their phones.”

Draco smiled. “I'm enjoying our conversation too, and I have the same worry as you.”

Astoria smiled back. “I think you and I understand each other far better than we think, Draco.”

“I think you're probably right about that, Astoria.”

Hannah came back to the table and set a soda in front of Astoria and another glass in front of Draco. “This is the last drink I'm letting you have tonight, alright?”

Draco shook his head but smiled. “Alright. What is it?”

“This is called Millionaire Cocktail No. 1,” Hannah said, picking up the empty glasses. “If you don't like this, then you really have no taste.”

Draco laughed as Hannah walked away, and he looked over at Astoria. “Have you had this one?”

“I've never even heard of this one,” Astoria replied. “You'll have to tell me how it is.”

Draco reached for the glass and took a sip, and as he set the glass down on the table, he had a grin on his face. “This is amazing.”

Astoria smiled at him. “Yeah?”

“Fuck, I might have just found my favorite,” Draco said, laughing. “I suppose it's appropriately named.”

Astoria laughed as well. “Well, you're more than a millionaire, so not entirely appropriate, but it certainly fits you, that's for sure.”

“Hannah is going to get a good laugh in about this, I'm sure.”

“Oh, we all will, but then we'll forget about it and move on. Everybody laughs at the names of favorite drinks when they're found, and then we just stop.”

Draco took another long sip. “The more I learn about all of you, the more I want to know. I've never felt that way about people before. I just usually figure out what they're good to me for and then get that and move on.”

“No wonder you don't have friends,” Astoria said softly. “But I suppose you are always surrounded by people who want something from you, or want to profit off you, or want to just be seen with you. We're not like that.”

“No, you're not, and that's what makes you all wonderful, even if I barely know you,” Draco admitted. “That's what makes me want to know you more.”

“We all want to know more about you too,” Astoria said. “I always find that the people at those society things are putting on the front that they want people to see. I don't think anyone ever finds out who they truly are. But I want to know who you truly are.”

Draco smiled at her. “You're quite right about that. I've always got some sort of persona that I put on at those things. Whatever it is that is required of me for the night. Inside, I'm usually just miserable and wishing that I could drink more than would be appropriate so I could get through the night. I don't though. That would cause too much of a scandal.”

“And Draco Malfoy has enough scandals,” Astoria finished. “How many of these scandals are actually instigated by things that you have said or done?”

“Absolutely none of them because I am so careful with what I say to whom and what I do in other people's presence. Honestly, the fact that I keep coming back here is something that I don't entirely understand, but I've just gotten to a point where I crave the way I feel when I come in here. I don't want to lose that feeling.”

“I don't want you to lose that feeling either. I'd hate it if someone told one of the papers about you coming here and then you stopped.”

“Me too,” Draco sighed, and Astoria reached into her bag.

“Here,” she said, handing over her phone. “Program your number in there. That way if it does happen, we still have a way to get a hold of you. I'm not going to let you miss out on actually getting to be yourself with someone just because of the fucking papers.”

Draco took the phone from her and reached into his pocket for his, handing it over. “Only if you program your number in there. Otherwise, I won't answer it because I won't know who is calling.”

“Deal,” Astoria said, taking it.

They spent a few moments figuring out how to put in their numbers, and when Draco was finished, he slid Astoria's phone back to her. “You're the first person I've ever given that number to.”

Astoria handed Draco's phone back to him. “What?”

“The only other people who have that phone number are my parents, Aunt Andromeda, and Dora. Not even Aunt Bella has that number.”

Astoria swallowed hard. “Then why did you give it to me?”

“Because I think that I trust you to have it,” Draco said, reaching for his drink.

Astoria took a long sip of her soda to try to process what Draco had just said. “Thank you for trusting me with it,” she eventually said. “I promise that I won't give it to anyone. Not even everyone else.”

“Thank you,” Draco said. “I'm not ready for everyone to have it yet.”

Astoria nodded and looked down at the phone, seeing the time. “I've got to go. I've still got papers to grade and I've got work in the morning.”

Draco nodded in understanding. “Thank you for letting me spend part of your evening with you. I hope I didn't ruin it with the news about your sister.”

Astoria shook her head. “No, my sister is the one that ruined that. I appreciate you telling me what you know. If you hear anything else about it, will you tell me? Please?”

“I will tell you anything I hear about it, I promise,” Draco said, standing up when Astoria did. “I enjoyed our conversation.”

“I did as well,” Astoria said, smiling at him. “I've got to go settle up the bill with Hannah.”

“Let me pay for it,” Draco said quickly. “I mean, just let me pay for it.”

Astoria stared at him for a moment before nodding. “I won't tell anyone that you did that, or else everyone is going to want you to always buy the drinks.”

“I have no problem being the one who always buys the drinks,” Draco said, laughing. “It's not like I can't afford them.”

“No, I suppose it's not,” Astoria said, glancing down at her phone again. “I really do need to go. I'll talk to you later, Draco.”

“Goodnight, Astoria.”

Draco sat back down as Astoria walked away, and when Hannah walked up to the table a moment later, he looked at her with a wide smile. “I have found my favorite.”

Hannah laughed hysterically. “I should have known. I really should have known.”

“Anyway, when you tally up the bill, add Astoria's drinks on it. I told her that drinks were on me tonight.”

Hannah gave him a shocked look. “Astoria let you buy her drinks?”

“Yes,” Draco said, confused. “Why?”

“Because she never lets anyone buy her drinks,” Hannah said, smiling at him. “She likes you.”

“I don't know about that,” Draco started, but Hannah just shook her head.

“No, she likes you, trust me. Are you going to come sit at the bar now? There's room for you.”

Draco nodded. “Yeah, I think I will. Are you sure you won't let me have another drink?”

“One more, but only because you found your favorite,” Hannah said, watching as Draco stood and reached for his drink. “And I want to know more about what was in the papers today.”

“I'll be honest with you, Hannah, I don't know any more than was in the papers themselves. I just think that it probably isn't true.”

“God, I hope not. My estimation of your mother would come down considerably if she was having an affair with an awful politician like that man.”

Draco laughed. “Not as much as mine.”

“That is probably accurate,” Hannah said, snatching up Astoria's soda. “Alright, to the bar with you. I'll meet you there in a minute.”

Draco nodded and looked around, seeing the napkin still sitting there and snatching it up. The last thing that Astoria needed was to have someone find that.

He was halfway to the bar when his phone buzzed in his pocket, and once he settled in a seat, he pulled it out and clicked through to the right screen. What he found was a message from Astoria, and just the sight of her name made him smile. Opening it up, his smile widened when he read what she had written.

_I really enjoyed tonight. Hopefully, we'll have nights like that in the future, though without the unpleasant news about my sister._

Draco reached for his drink and finished it off before typing a message back.

_I would really, really like that. Perhaps we should plan one._

His phone buzzed again just as Hannah approached him, and his smile turned into a grin.

_We'll have to do that. But not tonight. Goodnight, Draco._

Draco typed out a quick response.

_Whenever you're ready to, just send me a message. Goodnight, Astoria._

He set his phone down and looked up at Hannah, and he laughed at the look on her face. “What?”

“Whoever that is made you very happy right now, and I don't think I've ever seen you truly happy before.”

“No, I don't think you have.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No,” Draco said after a moment's thought. “I don't think I do.”

"Alright, honey. But when you do, I'm here."

"I know, Hannah. I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case anyone was wondering, all of the drinks mentioned in this story are real.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter got seriously long. hopefully, it makes sense.

“We need to talk about Pansy Parkinson.”

Draco didn't look up from his desk and shook his head. “I told you, I'm done with this bullshit. Have the media department put out another statement denying it.”

“Pansy's mother has given one of the papers an interview, and in it, she mentions her friendship with your mother and that she thinks the two of you are a good match,” Millicent said, and Draco's head shot up.

“What?”

“It appears that Pansy is the mysterious daughter of the Parkinson family,” Millicent said carefully. “The one that we always heard about but never met.”

Draco sat there in shocked silence, so Millicent kept talking. “I spoke with Blaise to see how your mother is responding to Mrs. Parkinson's interview, and it seems that she is very upset about it, which Blaise says is weird because your mother has been very insistent that your relationship with Pansy is a good thing. I told him yet again that it isn't true, and Blaise said he'd relay that to her.”

“Pansy Parkinson is their daughter?” Draco finally exclaimed. “And they let her be a television presenter on that awful show?”

“We have always heard that she rejected the idea of the society life,” Millicent said. “Her parents were more than happy to let her do so. Apparently part of that was them allowing her to live her life the way she wanted to, and what she wants to do is host that terrible show.”

Draco sat back in his chair and ran his hands over his face. “I don’t even know what to say about this. I really don’t.”

“This is why I’m asking again if you would like me to arrange a location where you could meet her.”

“No,” Draco said strongly. “I’m done with that bullshit. Especially if my mother is upset about this.”

“Okay, then we need to talk about something else,” Millicent said, looking down at her notes. “There was an article in one of the papers today about the Greengrasses.”

Draco’s throat tightened slightly. “What does that have to do with me?”

“Daphne Greengrass has a sister,” Millicent said. “And this sister is apparently estranged from the family and working as a teacher.”

Draco’s throat tightened some more. “I still don’t know what this has to do with me.”

“There was a picture accompanying the article,” Millicent said, reaching for one of the papers clutched in her arm and handing it to Draco. “This is what it has to do with you.”

Draco looked down at the picture, seeing Astoria sitting at a table in the Leaky Cauldron and was relieved that all that was seen in the picture was the back of his head. “That’s not me.”

Millicent just gave him a look. “Draco, that is you and you know it. Hardly anyone has white-blond hair like that and I know that shirt because I’m the one that bought it for you.”

Draco stared at the picture again before he realized that Millicent was right. “Okay, Millie, so maybe it’s me. Does the article know that?”

“No, it doesn’t. But I need to be prepared for when they do, so tell me what is going on.”

Draco spent a moment realizing that he had no choice but to tell her, so he took a deep breath. “I needed a place to go that wasn’t going to be full of people that would be falling at my feet, so I found that bar. The owner has been introducing me to her friends and one of them is Astoria. That’s all.”

“So that’s her name then? Astoria? Did you know she was one of the Greengrasses?”

“Yes, her name is Astoria, and yes, I know that. She does not like people using her for her surname either, so we sort of connected on that. But all she is is someone I’ve met and talked to a few times. I wouldn’t even call her a friend.”

Millicent stared at him for a moment. “And you’re not lying to me about this?”

“I don’t have friends, Millie, and you know that.”

“You have friends, Draco. You just don’t realize it,” Millicent said, standing up. “I will keep this to myself for now, but the moment rumors that this is you start circulating, I’m going to the media department and coordinating a response. I would suggest staying away from that bar for a few days at least. People will be in there trying to get more pictures and info on her.”

“I will, I promise.”

Millicent started walking towards the door. “You better not be lying to me about that either!”

“I'm not!” Draco called out.

Millicent walked out the door and then almost immediately walked back in. “Um, your mother is here to see you.”

Draco sucked in a sharp breath and stood up as Millicent left the room, the door opening fully and Narcissa walking in a moment later. “Hello, Mother.”

Draco walked around his desk and up to her, intending to hug her until he saw the look on her face. Instead, he forced a smile onto his face and motioned towards the sofa and chairs that were set up for more informal meetings. “Shall we sit down?”

“I will not lie to you, Draco,” Narcissa said as she sat down on the sofa. “I am very angry right now.”

Draco swallowed hard and sat down in one of the chairs. “I don't know what I've done to anger you, Mother, but I'm very sorry about it.”

Narcissa let out a small laugh. “Oh, darling, you have done nothing. It is that bitch Parkinson and her interview that is what has angered me.”

Draco tried not to let on his surprise at how she had described Pansy's mother. “Mrs. Parkinson has always been very kind to us.”

“She is a fucking bitch,” Narcissa exclaimed, and Draco couldn't keep the surprise off his face any longer. “That woman has been trying to tempt your father into an affair since before we were married. She is a horrible, awful person and I have only ever been polite to her because it is the appropriate thing to do. But this, this is completely unacceptable. Trying to use the media to put pressure on you actually having a relationship with her daughter when she knows damn well that there is no relationship at all. It's despicable.”

“Mother,” Draco said, his eyes wide.

Narcissa sighed heavily. “I am sorry that it all just came out like that, but it is the truth. But your father never gave in to her advances, I promise you that. Lucius has been nothing but faithful to me, as I have been nothing but faithful to him. I hope that you know that.”

“I do,” Draco said honestly, and he really did. He'd never really thought that his parents were anything but completely and totally in love, people for whom there was and never would be any other. 

“Good,” Narcissa said, giving him a genuine smile. “Anyway, I am here to make sure that you are going to stay as far away from Pansy Parkinson as you can be. I don't want you to have anything to do with this woman.”

“Mother, I have never even met her and I mean that. I have no plans to ever meet her either.”

“Good,” Narcissa said again, bringing a delicate hand up to tuck some of her impeccably styled hair behind her ear. “I do just want you to be happy, Draco, but I do not want it to be with her.”

“Well, I hope that I can be happy someday.”

“Is it going to be with this Greengrass woman?”

Draco slumped back in his seat. “So you saw the photo in the paper.”

“I would know the back of your head anywhere, my darling,” Narcissa stated. “Tell me about her, please.”

Draco sat there for a moment before sitting upright again. “Her name is Astoria, and yes, she is Daphne's sister. She is absolutely nothing like Daphne though. She just wants a quiet, normal life, and this fucking article is going to ruin that for her.”

“Astoria? I must say that I have never even heard of her until this article came out.”

“I'd never heard of her either until I met her. And I barely know her, Mother. I have only spoken with her a couple of times.”

“But you have been going to whatever establishment this is that you were photographed in.”

Draco sighed. “I just wanted someplace I could go that wasn't going to be full of people that were just falling at my feet for attention. The owner there promised me that she'd kick out anyone that tried that, but no one there ever has. They're just content to get drunk by themselves, and they're happy to let me do the same.”

“I am not pleased to hear that you are getting drunk in public, Draco.”

“I'm not,” Draco said honestly. “Hannah won't let me go beyond a few drinks, and since she's the bartender, that means I can't get any more than what she lets me have.”

“Hannah?” Narcissa inquired.

“Hannah Abbott. She is the owner and bartender.”

“And what is the name of this establishment?”

Draco ran his hands over his face. “The Leaky Cauldron.”

Narcissa raised an eyebrow. “That is the bar your cousin went to on...”

“On the night of the Kensington incident,” Draco finished. “I am aware of that. I promise you that I will be doing nothing of the sort. I am not as stupid as Dora is.”

“I have known that for years,” Narcissa said with a smile. “Don't tell your aunt or your cousin that I said that.”

Draco laughed. “I won't, I promise.”

“I want you to stay away from this place,” Narcissa said firmly. “I don't need you in the papers for anything else for a while.”

“I will stay away for a bit, but I am going back there, Mother. I feel more at home in that bar than I have felt in any place in a very long time.”

Narcissa studied her son for a moment. “You are making some friends there.”

“I am getting to know some people that might be people that I can one day call friends,” Draco said carefully. “So far none of them seem to care about my surname, and since they are all Astoria's friends and don't care about hers, I can somewhat believe them when they say that they never will. But I don't trust any of them, and they know hardly anything about me, so if they go to the papers about anything, they have very little information with which to tell them. But I have been going there off and on for nearly a month now, and nothing I've ever told them has ended up in the papers.”

“I've always been concerned about your lack of friends, Draco. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I came to the conclusion as to why that is though.”

“And what conclusion is this?”

“The people that you have grown up around are not the kind of people you would gravitate to if you were given the chance,” Narcissa said simply. “None of our friends' sons nor anyone else you have met in the high society life that you have to live has been someone that you've wanted to be friends with.”

Draco blinked a couple of times. He'd never even thought of it that way before, but she was right. There was not a single person that had ever surrounded him that was interested in any of the same things that Draco was. “And because I cannot connect with any of them, I haven't been able to build a foundation of trust,” he eventually said. “Which is why I have such trust issues. I never learned how to trust people.”

“I think that is a very astute observation, Draco,” Narcissa said, nodding. “Perhaps you seeking out people that are more like you in an establishment like this is something that you need to do. I caution you about trusting them though. They might not have gone to the papers about you yet, but it could be just a matter of time.”

“Which is exactly why I don't trust them,” Draco pointed out.

“Your father is not going to approve if he finds out you've been slumming it in a place like this or making friends with people who go to a place like this.”

Draco couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. “To be perfectly honest, Mother, I don't care whether he approves or not. He does not get to dictate every moment of my life.”

Narcissa smiled at him. “Well, there are some things that just need to be kept from your father, so I say we let this be one of those things for now. Depending on how this goes, it might end up being one of those things like the heirloom rug in the residence in Paris.”

Draco laughed again. “He still doesn't know I stained that?”

“He still doesn't know,” Narcissa confirmed. “And with the way that we rearranged the furniture in there, he never will. We hid it well, darling.”

“Good. I might have been six when I did that, but I have a feeling that he'd still kill me now if he found out about it.”

“I would never let him do such a thing,” Narcissa said, standing. “I must leave now. I have an appointment to get to about the next Malfoy Foundation charity auction. I'll make sure that Blaise has sent Millicent an email about what your role in it will be.”

Draco bit back a groan as he stood. “So long as it's not auctioning me off for a night, I'm more than happy to participate.”

“Oh no, darling,” Narcissa said, shaking her head. “I would never do that to you.”

Draco smiled at her and Narcissa stepped closer to him, wrapping him up in an embrace. “I love you, darling. And I want you to be happy more than anything. If that's with these people at this place, then that's with these people at this place. I just want you to be prepared for the fallout because someone is going to go in there someday and go to the papers about it.”

“I know, Mother,” Draco said as she released him. “And I will be ready for it.”

“And when it happens,” Narcissa said as she walked away, “I will deal with your father.”

Draco grinned. “Thank you, Mother.”

“Have a good afternoon, darling,” Narcissa said, walking out of the office.

When the door was closed again, Draco sighed heavily and walked over to his desk, sitting down and reaching for his phone. He debated calling Astoria before he realized she would just be in class, so he settled on a message instead. He stared at the phone for a while trying to figure out what to say, and in the end, he went with as simple as an apology as he could muster.

_Heard about the article and saw the photo, and all I have to say is that I'm sorry. I feel certain that this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been in there, and when the part about me comes out and your life turns to living hell, I will never forgive myself for it. I'm not going in there for a while, and if you want my advice as someone who is used to these sorts of things, you should stay away from there for a while too. The bar will be crawling with people wanting information or photos of you for a while._

He reread it before sending it, rereading it again and deciding that he didn't apologize enough.

_And once again, I'm so, so sorry for being the reason that you've become the girl in the papers._

Draco sent that as well, turning back to his computer and diving back into work for a while. Millicent kept coming in and out, giving him updates on various things that Draco needed to attend to, and as the afternoon went on, all Draco could think about was how he needed a drink.

And then the fact that he couldn't go to the Leaky Cauldron would hit him, and he'd just get really depressed.

At the end of the day, Draco made his way to his car and after starting it, he scrolled through his contacts, made sure the call was going to go through the car, pressed the button to connect, and then drove out into the street.

“Leaky Cauldron, this is Hannah,” came the cheery voice a moment later, and Draco felt better just at the sound of her voice.

“Hannah, it's Draco.”

“Hey!” Draco would never admit to anyone how much it meant to him that Hannah was always excited to talk to him. “You coming in? I'll have a Millionaire waiting for you when you get here.”

“About that,” Draco said, concentrating on making a turn for a moment. “I'm not going to come in for a while. And I can't tell you how long that will be.”

“What?” Draco could hear Hannah's disappointment. “Why not?”

“That article in the paper about the Greengrasses.”

“What article?” Hannah asked, and Draco could hear the rustling of papers. “I must have missed that.”

“There's an article about Astoria's family in the _Daily Mail_ today, and there is mention of Astoria. They don't say her name but they do refer to her as Daphne's sister and there's a photo of her sitting there with me the other night. It's just the back of my head and they don't know that it was me, but I just can't go in there right now.”

Draco heard Hannah gasp. “I'm looking at the picture right now,” she said after a moment, “and the moment I find out who took that, they're getting kicked out for life.”

“I think Astoria will appreciate that, but I would be prepared for the place to be crawling with people looking for information on Astoria or to take more photos of her for a while, and me showing up in there right now would only make them realize that the white-blond head in that photo belongs to me. Astoria told me that she didn't want to be the girl that ended up the papers, and I'm terribly sorry that I've made that happen, but I don't want to make things even worse.”

“Draco,” Hannah said, her voice soft. “If they didn't know that this was you, then there's no way that this is your fault.”

“Well, we will agree to disagree on that then,” Draco said, coming to a stop at a light. “I just wanted you to know why you won't see me for a while. I'll let you get back to work.”

“Bullshit,” Hannah said firmly. “I need some way to get a hold of you. I don't trust you enough to believe that you'll come back in here again someday.”

“Hannah,” Draco started, but Hannah cut him off.

“I'm being fucking serious. Give me your phone number or something. I don't want to have to go down to your office and talk my way into seeing you, which trust me, I would do if you just stopped coming here.”

Draco sighed heavily. “Do you have a piece of paper?”

“I'll just write it down on this newspaper and tear it off of it. Give it to me.”

Draco sat there for a moment before rattling off his number. “I do not want that number spread around.”

“Too bad. Everyone is getting this number.”

“Hannah, I'm serious.”

“So am I! I am not going to be the only one who has any idea how to get a hold of you. Everyone is going to be worried when I tell them about what is going on. I am not the only one who knows that you'd never come back in here again should something like this happen.”

Draco drove for a couple of blocks before responding. “Astoria already has that number, so don't bother her with it. As for everyone else, they need to message me first and in their message, they have to tell me who they are, because I don't answer calls from numbers I don't know, and I will have no clue who is who and I'd need to program those numbers into my phone.”

“I'll make sure that happens then,” Hannah said, and Draco could hear someone call out her name. “I've got to get back to work. You expect a message from someone tonight, okay? We're all going to be worried about both of you.”

“Okay,” Draco said, and they said their goodbyes. Draco put the phone call and the Leaky Cauldron out of his mind, turning up the radio and finishing the drive home.

When he got into the elevator up to his penthouse, the alert tone for his phone went off, and he reached for it, clicking through to the message.

_Draco, it's Ron. Would you like to come over and join Hermione and me for dinner and a drink tonight? Hermione said she'll look up how to make a Millionaire Cocktail No. 1 for you and make you one if we have everything for it._

Draco waited until he had gotten out of his suit and had a glass of whiskey to take the edge off before responding.

_That sounds great, Ron, but tell Hermione not to worry about the drink. Straight whiskey will be more than fine for me tonight if you have it._

Ron sent one back a few moments later.

_Well, we have plenty of whiskey, so get here as soon as you can, okay? We're worried._

Draco got another message a moment later with an address, and he stared at it for a few moments before grabbing his keys and wallet and heading downstairs. When he got down to his car, he put the address in his GPS, sat there for a moment trying to decide if he really wanted to go there, and then took off.

He followed the directions and after a little while, he was pulling into the driveway of a rather charming small house, and Draco envied them immediately. Living in a house like that would be something he'd love.

Too much of a security risk though, so it was something he'd never get to do.

The door opened as soon as he got out of the car, Hermione smiling at him as he got closer. The moment he was inside and the door shut behind him, she pulled him into a hug, surprising Draco. “Thank you so much for coming over, Draco. We've all been very concerned since Hannah told us what is happening.”

“I think you should be more concerned with Astoria than me,” Draco pointed out as he followed Hermione into the house. “I'm just trying to avoid making things even worse.”

“Astoria's not answering anyone, so Neville was going to go over there and make sure she's alright. If we hear something, I'll let you know.”

“Thank you,” Draco said, smiling when he walked into the kitchen. “You have a lovely house.”

Hermione beamed at him. “Ron and I have spent a lot of time fixing it up. I think it's turned into someplace really charming. Whiskey?”

“Please,” Draco said, and Hermione opened up a cabinet and got out a glass. “But make sure I don't have too much. I need to be able to drive home.”

“You can always stay here tonight if you want,” Hermione said, and Draco shook his head. 

“Someone will have figured out that's my car by morning which will just make the paparazzi hang out around here trying to get a picture of me, so no, but thank you for the offer.”

“Draco!” came Ron's voice, and he turned to see Ron walk into the kitchen. “I was hoping you'd be here by the time I got home.”

“How's Cedrella doing?” Hermione asked. “Your mother was very worried when I spoke to her earlier.”

“She's doing fine,” Ron said, shaking his head. “It's just a cold. Mum is worrying for no reason.”

“At Cedrella's age, there is no such thing as worrying for no reason when it comes to her health,” Hermione said, turning around. “Here, Draco.”

“Thank you,” Draco said as he took the glass from Hermione. “May I ask who Cedrella is?”

“Oh, my grandmother,” Ron said, walking towards the door to hang up his coat. “Dad's mum. She's a great lady. Hates your family though.”

Draco gave him a confused look. “Why would she hate the Malfoys?”

“Not the Malfoys,” Ron corrected as he walked back into the kitchen. “The Blacks. And she's got a pretty good reason as far as she's concerned. She's a Black herself.”

Draco stood there for a moment, trying to remember a member of his family marrying a Weasley. “What?”

“Who did Luna say our closest shared ancestor is again?” Ron asked. “I can't remember.”

“Um,” Hermione said as she poured herself a glass of wine. “Phineas Nigellus, maybe?”

“Yes!” Ron exclaimed. “Please tell me you have heard of Phineas Nigellus Black.”

“Of course I have,” Draco said. “He's my great-great-great-grandfather.”

“Good lord, this does go back a while, doesn't it?” Hermione said, looking over at them. “Ron, what do you want to drink?”

“Scotch,” Ron said, pulling out a chair at the table and sitting down. “Anyway, Phineas Nigellus is my great-great-grandfather. Granny's grandfather.”

“Then how do I know nothing about your grandmother?” Draco asked, sitting down when Ron motioned for him to. “Because my grandmother is insistent about bringing all the members of the extended Black family together for holidays, and there's never been any Weasleys there.”

“That is because of Granny's father, Arcturus, Phineas Nigellus's son,” Ron explained. “He had a massive falling out with his brother Cygnus.”

“That's my great-great-grandfather,” Draco interjected.

“Oh, so you're one of Cygnus's descendants? That makes this even more interesting then,” Ron said, smiling when Hermione set a glass in front of him and sat down next to him. “Thank you. Anyway, Arcturus and Cygnus had a massive falling out because Arcturus was involved in some very shady business practices. I've never quite gotten Granny to tell me what they were because she only says that it involves stealing money from some people that he shouldn't have been stealing from, but Arcturus was pretty much disowned because of it. Not that he didn't still have money and influence, because he did. But the rest of the family sided with Cygnus, so Arcturus never spoke to them again.”

Draco took a long sip from his drink. “I would think this is something I'd be aware of though. I'm not aware of any of this.”

“Luna told me that your grandmother pretends that Arcturus didn't have any descendants,” Hermione said. “Whenever Luna tries to bring them up, Druella immediately changes the subject. It's not like she doesn't know about them.”

Draco sat back in his chair and let out a small laugh. “That doesn't really surprise me. Grandmother wants nothing to do with anything that causes the Black family any shame. Scandals are okay if they are appropriate scandals, which has always made absolutely no sense to me and she's never given a definition on what an appropriate scandal is, but if this is a rift that goes back decades and about stealing money from someone, then that would definitely fall into the inappropriate scandals category, I think. So, Luna knows all about this?”

“She's told me more than Granny ever has, that's for sure,” Ron said, smiling at him. “I'm sure she'd be happy to tell you all about it.”

Draco pulled out his phone and started typing out an email to Millicent. “I will get my assistant to make an appointment with Luna then. Mother will be happy to hear about me doing that anyway. She always wants me to take more of an interest in the Black family history because I'm one of only two in my generation of the Black bloodline.”

“Not really,” Ron said. “Some of my siblings have kids. They'd be your generation too, I think.”

Draco sighed and put his phone away, picking up his drink again. “I'm not going to lie to you. This generation versus that one and all that bullshit really gives me a headache. That's why I don't take an interest in this stuff. There's too much to remember.”

“Luna is really good about simplifying it,” Hermione said. “She gave Ron this amazing chart of the Weasley family tree. I'm sure she'll have one for the Blacks for you.”

“That might be really helpful,” Draco said, smiling. “So how are we related then?”

“Um,” Ron said, trying to remember. “I'm not sure.”

“Let me message Luna,” Hermione said, picking up her phone. “She'll know immediately.”

Draco smiled while she typed out the message. “I had no idea I had more family out there. I had no idea you would be part of it.”

“I guess I just thought that you'd know, especially after you recognized my surname,” Ron said, looking over at Hermione when her phone beeped. “Luna?”

Hermione nodded. “You are third cousins once removed,” she said, putting down her phone. “Luna says she can't wait to talk to you about this, Draco. She's never been able to tell any of the members of the Black family about Arcturus and his descendants because of your grandmother's opposition.”

“Well, I can't wait to talk to her about it,” Draco said. “I can't wait to find out more about this family I have too.”

“I'll be happy to tell you about the Weasleys,” Ron said, smiling at him. “But I don't know all that much about Crouch or Longbottom descendants. Granny has two sisters, but there's no big family reunions or anything.”

“Crouches and Longbottoms?” Draco shook his head. “Why do I have a feeling that there are far more Black relatives out there than I thought.”

“Because there probably is,” Hermione said, standing up. “Draco, what would you like for dinner? Ron and I were going to get a pizza delivered, but we could do something else.”

“It's been ages since I've had pizza,” Draco said, laughing. “I'd love some, but please, let me pay for it.”

“That's not necessary,” Hermione started, but Ron just shook his head. 

“Let the rich bastard pay for it, Hermione.”

Hermione slapped Ron on the shoulder, but Draco just laughed again. “I would be perfectly happy always paying for everything. It's not like I don't have the money to do so.”

“Oh, alright,” Hermione said, smiling at him. “Any particular type of pizza you want, Draco?”

“I'll be fine with whatever you order, I'm sure. I'll eat just about anything on a pizza except for pineapple.”

Ron grinned. “I think you and I are going to get along very well, Draco. Pineapple on pizza is disgusting.”

Hermione just shook her head and walked away. “Why do I feel like this is going to be a long night?”

“Because it will be!” Ron called out. “What do you want to talk about first? My family or your day?”

Draco leaned back in his chair and took a big sip of his whiskey. “My day,” he said after a moment. “It was a long one.”

“Then let's talk about it.”

“But I want to see this Weasley family tree Luna gave you at some point,” Draco added. “I want to see all of my relatives.”

Ron grinned at him. “We can do that after dinner.”


	8. Chapter 8

Draco watched as Luna rummaged around in a closet that was in her office, shaking his head. “If you're having this much trouble finding it, then it's not necessary.”

“Of course it is,” Luna said before letting out a small cheer. “Here it is.”

Draco watched as she pulled a large piece of poster board out of the closet, walking over to the table where he was sitting and laying it on top of it. “This is the real extended Black family tree, not the one that I made for your grandmother. Only the descendants of Phineas Nigellus though. There is an even more extended one, but those relations are so distant that I didn't bother charting them.”

Draco's eyes roamed over it, seeing all of the descendants of his great-great-great-grandfather and smiling. “I had no idea there were so many of us.”

“I really would have loved for your family to know about all of this, but Druella is always so insistent that I never tell anyone about Arcturus's descendants. But, since you already know about them, I feel comfortable talking to you about them and not think that I'm going to lose my job over it.”

“I will make sure that doesn't happen if Grandmother starts threatening you with that,” Draco said seriously. “And she shouldn't be hiding away members of the family.”

“I know, but she won't listen to me whenever I try to bring that up,” Luna said, pointing at Arcturus. “Arcturus was your great-great-grandfather Cygnus's older brother. He married Lysandra Yaxley before the rift with the rest of the family happened, but they were able to stay in the society life because she was a Yaxley and her father practically demanded it. But when they had their first daughter, they decided to withdraw from society life for a while and raise their family. When their daughters were old enough, however, they had them enter the society life because they wanted them to make respectable marriages. 

“Callidora was the oldest. She died three years ago. She married Harfang Longbottom and had a son and a daughter, but since the Longbottoms are not being helpful in my research, I don't know more than that. I do know that Neville's not a descendant of hers though.”

Draco looked over at her in confusion. “Neville?”

“His surname is Longbottom,” Luna explained. “From all of the research I've done on him, it seems he's a pretty distant relation to the main family line though. Hannah is pretty distantly related to the Abbotts too.”

“Are all of you somehow related to families on that bullshit 'Sacred Twenty-Eight' list?” Draco asked after a moment. “Because so far that's four of you.”

“Hermione definitely isn't,” Luna said. “I have been back hundreds of years on her family tree and no instances of any of them show up in it. I am pretty sure there isn't in mine either, but I have yet to really dive into mine. All my efforts have been spent on doing this for your grandmother and then for my friends that mine just isn't a priority, and every time I think about working on mine, I just feel so burned out from work that I don't have the energy.”

“What about Harry then?”

“There is a Black in the Potter family tree, but Harry is not a descendant of hers. We can get into Dorea at another time if you want though. She's your great-grandfather Pollux's sister.”

“Harry's family must be pretty well off if a Black married into it.”

Luna just nodded. “Harry's grandfather invented a line of hair products that were very popular, but the family did have some money before that.”

Draco let out a small laugh. “I don't think any of you can really understand what it's like to be me, but I suddenly think that you all might understand more than I think.”

Luna smiled at him. “You're right that we can't understand what it's like to be you, but we do have some experience with families like yours. It helped make Astoria comfortable with all of us, and I hope that it will help you as well.”

Draco smiled back. “That's rather comforting to hear, actually.”

“That's wonderful,” Luna said, turning back to the chart. “Cedrella is the middle daughter. I heard that Ron told you about her.”

“Yes, he did. He invited me to meet her as well, though he said that he'll have to talk to her about that first.”

“I hope that Cedrella gives you a chance. She might just because Ron is asking her to. Ginny is pretty insistent that Ron is her favorite.”

“Have you met her?”

“We all have. Molly invites all of us whenever she's throwing a big party for something,” Luna said, pointing to where Molly was in the chart. “She was born a Prewett.”

“That I knew,” Draco said. “Because of my grandfather's cousin Lucretia marrying a Prewett, I'd heard of Molly and her Weasley husband before, but I didn't know Arthur's name or much of anything about their children beyond the number of them until Ron was explaining things to me the other night.”

“Well, I'm sure that Molly will be happy to hear that you know about your familial relationship then. She never has understood why Cedrella doesn't attempt a reconciliation given how much she complains about not being able to live the life that she should have been living as a Black heiress.”

“Is that one of the reasons why Grandmother doesn't acknowledge them?”

“Most likely. Druella doesn't like people trying to profit off of your family, and I think she probably thinks that's what Arcturus's descendants would want to do. Especially given the money issues the Weasleys have now. I know that's not public knowledge, but Druella knows about it somehow.”

Draco shook his head. “I'm not trying to say that the Black bloodline isn't important because it is, but Grandmother takes this entirely too seriously for someone who isn't even part of that bloodline.”

“Perhaps, but the Rosier bloodline is pretty ancient too,” Luna explained. “I'd be happy to tell you about that some other time too.”

“I should just start coming in for regular appointments. You have given me entirely too much information to process already.”

Luna nodded. “We can set up a regular appointment then if you'd like.”

“I'll have Millicent call you and do that. I certainly can't tell you a single thing that is on my schedule without Millie standing there whispering it in my ear.”

Luna chuckled. “You sound like your mother and Blaise.”

“That does not surprise me,” Draco said, running his hands over his face. “So who is the third daughter?”

“Charis,” Luna said, pointing to her. “She married Caspar Crouch and had a son and two daughters. The Crouches are being just as unhelpful as the Longbottoms though. I don't know anything about her descendants because of it.”

“I bet Grandmother does. She's very good friends with Barty Crouch's wife.”

“Perhaps, but due to her refusal to acknowledge Arcturus's descendants, I'll never learn if she does,” Luna said, sighing heavily. “Honestly, Druella is a massive roadblock on a lot of my research. She won't give me hardly any insight into the Rosier lineage either. It's the stories that really make genealogy worthwhile. Otherwise, it's just lifeless names and dates on a chart.”

“Then pick someone and tell me a story,” Draco said, smiling at her. “I don't want to just know the names and dates.”

Luna grinned at him. “Then I'll tell you about your great-great-grandfather Cygnus and how he met his wife Violetta Bulstrode.”

“Can't wait to hear it.”

By the time he was leaving Luna's office an hour later, Draco felt more connected to his family than he'd ever expected to. He got into his car just as his phone rang, and he glanced at it for a moment before sighing and answering it. “Nymphadora, what have I told you about calling me during business hours?”

“Not to, I know, but it's important,” Nymphadora said, taking a deep breath. “So, I might have a situation on my hands and I need you to help me break it to Grandmother gently.”

Draco switched the call so it was going through his car and drove off. “What kind of situation have you gotten yourself into now?”

“Um, I'm not really sure how to say it, to be honest.”

“Dora, my time is valuable. I don't have time to sit here while you think of how to say it.”

“Please, I could tell you just started your car. Wherever you're going will take you a little while given the traffic in the city today.”

Draco sighed. “I'm being serious, Dora.”

“Right,” Nymphadora said, pausing. “So, it involves Remus.”

“Am I ever going to get to meet Remus or am I just going to continue to have to see photos of you coming out of his flat in the papers every morning?”

“Draco Malfoy, you read that trash?”

“No, Nymphadora, I do not. But any time a member of the family ends up in the papers, Millicent brings it to me so that I am prepared should I ever be asked about it.”

Nymphadora laughed. “Of course she does.”

“Can you get to the point already?”

Nymphadora fell silent again. “My parents are going to kill me over this. It wasn't planned, and I know they'll believe me when I tell them that, but it's going to make everyone go mental and I need your help in getting Grandmother onboard because if she's onboard then everyone else will fall in line.”

Draco drove for a few blocks before what Nymphadora was saying hit him. “Are you trying to tell me that you're pregnant?”

She fell silent again and that answered Draco's question. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I clearly wasn't,” Nymphadora said. “Look, it's not like this baby is going to be born into a family without love. Remus and I have been talking about getting married as soon as the divorce is final. I'm sure Grandmother would have wanted to turn that into an elaborate ceremony, but now I think she'd be happy if we did it quietly and then just announced it.”

“And when exactly is his divorce going to be final?” Draco asked. “And there's no way I can help you with this.”

“I don't know when his divorce is going to be final,” Nymphadora said with an edge in her voice. “And you have to help me, Draco. You're her favorite and you know it.”

“So you're just trying to exploit that? Fuck no, Dora.”

“Draco.”

“The first people you need to tell are your parents,” Draco said firmly. “And then Aunt Andromeda can help you deal with Grandmother. I am staying out of this.”

“Draco, come on.”

“What part of no do you not understand?”

“I'll tell Aunt Narcissa that you've been going to the Leaky Cauldron if you don't.”

Draco laughed. “That is not enough of a threat to get me to do this. And Mother already knows about it.”

“What?”

“I told Mother about the Leaky Cauldron,” Draco said simply. “She's not entirely pleased about me slumming it, but after our discussion, I think she understands how it's necessary.”

“Draco,” Nymphadora whined. “I really need your help and now you've taken away my blackmail.”

Draco sighed heavily. “Do your parents have any idea how serious your relationship with Remus is?”

“No, they do not.”

“Then starting with them is definitely the right thing to do. Aunt Andromeda being on your side will make your conversation with Grandmother go better than it would otherwise. I would suggest having her there for that conversation because she will know better than you as to how to keep Grandmother calm. Do not bring Remus into her presence until Grandmother requests to meet him. Once she finds out that you're going to marry him, whenever that will be, she will want to meet him to determine whether he's good enough to be in the family.”

Nymphadora sighed heavily. “You just told me absolutely nothing that I didn't already know.”

“Then why on earth did you call me?”

“I thought that perhaps if you were in the room when I told Grandmother, she might hold back a little when she lays into me about this.”

“You wanted me to be present for Grandmother yelling at you for hours? That was never going to happen and you know it.”

“Not even to help your dear old cousin out?”

“Dora, I will never help save you from that because every time it happens is a time in which you deserve it.”

“One of these days, you're going to do something that will make you deserve that too, and I will be in that room and enjoy every second of it.”

Draco laughed. “Unlike you, I am wise enough to inform Mother and Father of things that need to be handled immediately, and Mother informs Grandmother of what is coming and what my role in it was. Grandmother often will call me to the estate and we will discuss the scandal over tea, and by the end of it, I will have explained myself and she will be accepting of it.”

“What, so all of your scandals are appropriate ones? That's fucking bullshit.”

“Almost all of my scandals are about things I've never said or done,” Draco pointed out. “You, on the other hand, are always caught in the act.”

“Don't remind me,” Nymphadora muttered. “Alright, so you won't help me with Grandmother. Fine. Will you at least be the first one I introduce Remus to? I trust you not to burst out into a lecture about how we weren't careful enough.”

“I will be happy to meet Remus, and I would never do such a thing. You might have been unbelievably reckless to put yourself in such a situation, but I am not about to go lecturing your baby daddy about it.”

Nymphadora groaned. “Can you never use that phrase again?”

“Would you rather me refer to you as his baby mama? The papers will pick one of those and run with it.”

Nymphadora groaned again. “I hadn't even thought of that. Fuck.”

“It'll all be okay, Dora,” Draco said. “After Grandmother gets over the shock of what is happening, she'll be so happy to have another Black heir that she'll calm down about it pretty quickly.”

“You're probably right about that.”

Draco came to a stop at a light and looked down at his phone when the screen lit up, seeing Astoria's name. “Dora, I need to go now. Call me about when to meet Remus and we'll set something up.”

“Call Millie, you mean.”

“No, I mean call me,” Draco said seriously. “If we do it on a Sunday night, then I will be available without needing to consult my schedule. Other nights are a different story.”

“Then I will call with a Sunday night date and what restaurant to meet us at then.”

“No restaurants,” Draco said. “You two will come over to the penthouse for dinner.”

“Now you don't even want to be seen in public with me.”

“Now I want to save you from having someone overhear the fact that you're pregnant and run to the papers about it before you can tell everyone that is needed and a carefully worded statement can be crafted.”

“Good point. Then I'll pick a Sunday night and you can have Millie arrange for someone to cook us dinner.”

“I am capable of cooking, Dora.”

“Maybe, but I'm not eating anything that you do,” Nymphadora said. “I'll talk to you soon.”

Draco said goodbye and pulled into the nearest parking space he could find, reaching for his phone and clicking through to the message from Astoria.

_It's not your fault, Draco. It's Daphne's fault._

Draco was confused by that and sent a message back. 

_Daphne's fault?_

He waited for another message for so long that he contemplated beginning to drive again, but then a message came through.

_She was talking about me at a society party and mentioned that I was an English teacher. One of the waiters overheard her and went to the papers about her secret English teacher sister. And, well, you know how the papers are when they have a story. They go to great lengths to get the real story. They know a whole lot more about my life that they haven't printed yet. I'm sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop._

Draco felt anger burn through him. Daphne had to have known not to do something like that.

_How did they know to find you at the Leaky Cauldron then?_

Draco forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths and resolved to call Theo Nott once this conversation was over to tell him what an absolute bitch the woman currently sharing his bed was.

_They figured out where I teach and were posing as a parent in the parking lot. Overheard me talking to Neville about how I was going to the bar that night. I'm pretty sure that means that they know you were there too, which is why I'm sending these messages instead of paying attention to the test my students are taking right now._

Draco shelved his plans to call Theo and changed them to plans to call Millicent instead. The media department needed to begin coordinating a response. 

_How did you find all of this out?_

Draco adjusted his plans in his head again. Call Mother first, then Millicent. She needed to know what was about to happen before anyone else, especially since she'd said she'd take care of Father for him.

_I got an email from my uncle's press secretary. I don't know how he got the information but he did, and my uncle ordered him to tell me what they knew. I'm supposed to bring you home to meet the family, by the way. Don't worry, I'm not actually going to talk to them myself, so you definitely won't have to do that._

Draco sighed heavily. He hated that this had happened to her.

_I truly am sorry, Astoria. Anything I can do to help, just let me know._

Draco waited a while for the next message, but he felt like one was going to come through, and then it did.

_I'd say meet up with me for a drink, but that obviously can't happen now. I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to go in there again. You either._

He stared at his phone for a few moments before deciding to just go with the idea that had popped into his head.

_You're more than welcome to come over for a drink instead. I will completely understand if you don't want to do that though._

This time Draco waited so long for another message that he set the phone down and began to drive again, and he was sitting at a stoplight when he heard the alert tone go off.

_Not tonight. Tomorrow okay?_

Draco wanted to respond but the light changed before he could get a chance. When he pulled up to the next one, however, he reached for the phone again.

_Tomorrow night works for me. I'm driving right now but I'll send you the address of the building when I get back to work, and then I'll tell you how to sneak in the back if you want to do that._

By the time that he reached the Malfoy International building, there was another message waiting for him.

_I will wait for your message then. And Draco, thanks. I really need this._

He parked his car and climbed out, and once he was in the elevator, he sent another message. 

_I really need this too. And if we're about to go through this journey of a scandal together, might as well start it off that way. Call me tonight if you want. I'll be home from after eight._

Draco didn't hear back from Astoria by the time that he reached his office, and he told Millicent and his secretary that he was not to be disturbed for a while before locking the office door behind him. He made his way to the sofa and collapsed down onto it, running his hands over his face before reaching for his phone again so he could call his mother. He found another message from Astoria, and it put a smile on his face.

_Then expect a phone call tonight. You can tell me how to sneak in from the back then._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for all the genealogy stuff in the last chapter and this one but I needed to get all of that established so that I could move on to other aspects of the story. God bless the Harry Potter wiki and the Black family tree.


	9. Chapter 9

The message from Astoria was there on his phone when Draco woke up, and it made him sigh. 

_Do you mind if we postpone tonight? Ginny wants me to meet with her and Molly about wedding plans._

He waited until he was dressed for work and in the elevator down before responding.

_No, that's fine. I was just looking forward to it, that's all._

The moment after he pressed send was the moment when he realized that he really shouldn't have said that, but the message was sent and he could do nothing about that now. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket just as he was getting into his car, and he took a look at it as he put the key into the ignition.

_I'm sorry, Draco. When Molly gets into one of these moods, it's best to go along with what she wants. Maybe I can come over after I'm done with them._

Draco let out a small laugh before responding. 

_Molly sounds like my mother when she's got her mind set on something. And you coming over afterward would be nice. I feel like me telling you about what the media response on my end is going to be in person would be better than a few messages._

Draco started the car and got himself ready to drive, but before he could, his phone went off again.

_You're going to deny knowing me, aren't you?_

Draco took a deep breath and typed out a response.

_The exact opposite, actually. I'm going to confirm that was me there with you._

He backed the car out of his parking space and drove off, hearing his phone go off just as he was approaching a light. He slowed the car to a stop and reached for his phone reading what Astoria had sent.

_That's a really bad idea. It's just going to set off a fuck ton of headlines about how you're cheating on Pansy Parkinson with me._

Draco didn't have time to type out a response before he had to start driving again, but at the next light he was stopped at, he did.

_Which is precisely why I wanted to talk to you about this in person instead of via messages._

Astoria hadn't responded by the time that Draco arrived at work, and he settled himself behind his desk and prepared for his first meeting. He didn't have a chance to look at his phone again until it was nearing lunch, but before he could think of another message to send to Astoria to try and explain himself, Millicent walked into his office.

“The mailroom just brought this up,” she said, handing over an envelope. “It looks like something personal as opposed to regular business, so I brought it in for you instead of me opening it.”

Draco took the envelope and flipped it around in his hands, not recognizing the return address. “Thank you, Millie.”

“Do you want lunch ordered in today? Or are you going to leave and get some?”

“Order in,” Draco said without thinking about it that much. “And then I want to be left alone during it.”

“Alright, what do you want?”

Draco rattled off an order from his favorite Chinese restaurant while he stared at the envelope, and the moment that Millicent had left, he flipped it over and tore open the seal. He pulled out the card that was inside, and it took him a moment of staring at it to realize that it was an invitation. An invitation to a wedding.

An invitation to Harry and Ginny's wedding.

He read through it several times before he noticed the note that was included with it, and he set the invitation down and unfolded the paper. 

_We'd really love it if you were there, Draco. We'll also understand if you don't want to come. But we are inviting all of our friends to the wedding and, therefore, you are included in that. I know you're still unsure of all of us being friends of yours, but I wanted you to know that we consider you to be a friend of ours. Please let me know if you're coming the next time we see each other, but if you could also send in the card that says whether you're attending or not, I would really appreciate it._

Draco ran his thumb over where Ginny had signed it and he sighed heavily. He was honored that after such a short time, he was considered someone to invite to their wedding, but he also wasn't sure that he could entirely believe that she was genuine about it. I mean, who wouldn't want a Malfoy at their wedding?

The moment he thought that, he felt horrible. The group of people that he'd met at the Leaky Cauldron had been nothing but kind to him, and they'd never said a single word about him to any of the papers. He knew that everything was about to go to shit because he'd been in there, but he also knew that none of them were the reason for why that was about to happen. They just seemed to genuinely care about him, and Draco didn't know what to do about that because he'd never had that before.

He picked up the invitation again before reaching out and buzzing Millicent's desk. She came into the office a moment later, and Draco looked up at her. “What's on my schedule for June sixth?”

Millicent grabbed the phone in her hand and quickly pulled up the schedule. “Absolutely nothing. Why?”

“Because I've been invited to a wedding and I wanted to know if I could actually attend before letting them know that I would be there,” Draco said. “Mark that entire day off for me. In fact, mark the day before and the day after off too. I'm just going to enjoy myself that weekend.”

Millicent made the notes on the schedule before looking up at him with a smile. “Who's getting married?”

“A friend,” Draco said dismissively.

“I thought you didn't have friends.”

“Yes, well,” Draco said, smiling at her. “Maybe you were right. Maybe I do.”

Millicent stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “Fine, don't tell me. But when pictures of you at this wedding start going around, I'm going to need to know who it is.”

“If that happens, I'll tell you. I promise,” Draco said. “Now leave me alone.”

Millicent nodded and walked out of the office, and Draco reached for his phone. He pulled up a new message and thought about what to say before typing out his message to Ginny.

_I'm honored to be considered a friend, Ginny, and I will be happy to attend your wedding. Next time, though, send something personal like this to my home address._

Draco added the address of the penthouse before pressing send, and then he clicked through his messages back to his thread with Astoria. She still hadn't answered him, and he was beginning to worry about why that was. He quickly typed out a message once he realized what he had to say, and he read through it a few times before pressing send.

_I'm sorry if what my response will be has upset you, but I do have to look at this from my perspective and not just yours. I hate that I'm going to make this worse for you, but me denying it will not help things, especially since they likely have photographs of us together. I know that you'll be made out to be the other woman in this non-existent relationship with Pansy, but I'll just put out another statement or five before they realize that there is no relationship between us for you to be the other woman of. You already knew that they were going to run with the idea of our secret relationship whether we denied it or not, but I will not deny knowing you, Astoria. You deserve better than that._

Draco set his phone to the side and went back to work. When he was coming to the end of his day and he still hadn't heard from Astoria, he began to become concerned that he'd angered her more than he'd been thinking. As he rode the elevator down, he debated sending another message, but then he decided that probably wouldn't help things at all and so he didn't. 

He did have a message on his phone by the time he got home, but it was from Ginny, not Astoria. Still, he clicked through to it with a smile on his face.

_Harry and I are so glad to know that you're coming, Draco. It's going to be a wonderful day, but it would have felt odd should all of our friends not have been there. I meant what I said, by the way. You are one of our friends._

Draco typed out a response as he headed to change out of his suit.

_And I meant what I said when I told you I'm honored to be one. I heard you're working on wedding plans with your mother and Astoria tonight. I hope that you have fun and get a lot accomplished._

Ginny responded almost immediately. 

_Yeah, I heard that screwed up your plans with Astoria. I'm sorry about that. Mum just gets in these moods though, and she suddenly needs to know everything about how the church will be decorated and she needs to know it now. Hopefully, I won't keep Astoria too late and you'll be able to enjoy your drink together._

Draco went to respond but another message came through.

_And don't think that any of this is your fault. It's not. Astoria is going to hate every second of what is about to happen, but she also knew that it could happen to her someday. She's told us that from the moment that we learned she is one of those Greengrasses. Besides, I think you're going to hate every second of what is about to happen too, and I know you wouldn't have brought this upon yourself._

Draco tossed the phone onto his bed and quickly got his suit coat and tie off. He reached for it again and responded.

_I just hate that I'm going to make things worse because of who I am. If she'd just been there by herself that night, things would have been much easier for her._

He tossed the phone back onto the bed while he unbuttoned his shirt, sliding it off his arms and tossing it towards the laundry basket. He heard it go off as he was browsing his closet for something more casual to wear, and he went and grabbed it.

_Maybe, but there's nothing that can be done about that now. She's not angry with you, by the way. She just got busy today and isn't sure how to respond via a message._

Draco was confused.

_How do you know that?_

When he got Ginny's response, he could imagine that his question had caused her to laugh.

_I know because she's already here, silly. She told me._

Draco couldn't help the relief that flowed through him. 

_I was really concerned that she was angry with me._

He went back to browsing his closet, but when his phone went off again, that took his attention.

_She's not, I promise. Mum's just gotten here so we need to get to work. Astoria says she'll see you later._

Draco smiled.

_Tell her I'm looking forward to it then. Enjoy your evening._

He tossed the phone onto the bed and went back to finding some more casual clothes. Once he had, he went and made himself dinner, sitting down at his table and reaching for the glass of whiskey he'd poured himself.

And then someone buzzed the penthouse.

He stood up and went to the intercom, pressing the button to open up the microphone. “Yes?”

“Draco,” came his father's voice. “We need to talk.”

Draco swallowed hard and then pressed the correct buttons to allow Lucius to come up to the penthouse. He had no idea why his father was there, but if he'd driven into London for this, then he knew that it wasn't going to be good.

Draco might have been twenty-seven-years-old, but facing his father when Lucius was angry with him was something that would always terrify him.

The elevator doors opened a minute later and Lucius walked into the penthouse, Narcissa right behind him. His mother's presence eased Draco's nerves, knowing that whatever was about to happen, she would be able to keep his father from going too far. “Mother. Father. How lovely to see you.”

“We need to talk about this Greengrass woman,” Lucius said as he walked to the bar. “Whiskey, Narcissa?”

“Of course, darling,” Narcissa said, turning to Draco and hugging him. 

“Don't worry,” she whispered in his ear. “He's not angry.”

Draco didn't believe that for a moment, but he just smiled and nodded. “Good.”

“This woman is someone that is very interesting to me, Draco,” Lucius said as he pulled a couple of glasses off the shelf. “And I want to know why you didn't mention that you knew her before all of this.”

“I didn't mention that I knew Astoria because I had literally only spoken to her once prior to the conversation which was photographed,” Draco said, walking over to his table and sitting back down. “And you're going to have to deal with me eating dinner during this conversation. I'm starving.”

“That's fine, darling,” Narcissa said, sitting down at the table with him. “Your father and I have reservations with the Ollivanders in a couple of hours.”

“You're eating late then,” Draco pointed out. 

“It was the only available time,” Narcissa explained as Lucius set a drink in front of her. “Thank you.”

“You're quite welcome,” Lucius said as he sat down next to her. “Draco, you should have said something about this woman.”

“Her name is Astoria,” Draco said with a bit of an edge in his voice. “I would appreciate it if you could refer to her as such.”

Lucius studied him for a moment before nodding. “This Astoria has made quite an impression on you. I can tell just from that.”

“Our conversations have resulted in us realizing that we understand each other better than I would have thought when I first saw her,” Draco said, pausing to take a bite of his food. “We have an understanding that none of the rest of them can have with me.”

“The rest of them?”

“Lucius,” Narcissa said, drawing his attention to her. “I told you, Draco needed to seek out some people that are more like he is as a person. He has found a group of people that Astoria is a part of that are like that.”

“Which explains why you were in this establishment then,” Lucius said, and Draco could hear the barely restrained insults.

“Yes, it is. And nothing you say is going to make me stop speaking to them, nor from going back to the bar once I feel like it's okay for me to do so.”

Lucius sighed heavily. “You are a Malfoy, Draco. Certain standards must be upheld.”

“I'm a Malfoy, Father, and that's ninety percent of the problem,” was out of Draco's mouth before he could stop it. “I cannot be myself with absolutely anyone because of it. I'm not even sure I know who that is because of it. But I am slowly learning what it is like to speak to people beyond small talk at a party, and I am not giving that up just because their surnames are not ones that you are thrilled with.”

Narcissa reached out and covered Lucius's hand with hers. “He is speaking the truth, darling. He never found interests with the sons of our friends the way that you found interests with them when you were growing up. He needs to seek that out somewhere, and while I am not pleased that he needs to do it in a place like that establishment, I am not going to deny that he needs to do it.”

“Narcissa.”

“I don't want him to be alone, Lucius. He's been alone his whole life. If he needs these people to ease that for him, then I am not going to begrudge him that.”

Lucius stared at his wife for a moment before reaching for his glass and draining it. “I do just want you to be happy, Draco. But as I said, there are certain standards that a Malfoy must uphold.”

“I can uphold those standards and learn to have these people as friends at the same time,” Draco said seriously. “They're not bad people, Father. They're really great people. They've never said a word about a thing I've told them to the papers. I was just invited to a wedding by one of them today. They are the kind of people that I want to be around.”

And it wasn't until Draco said it that he realized that he really meant that. Hannah and all of her friends were people that he wanted to be around. 

He'd never had people he wanted to be around before.

“Lucius,” Narcissa said, “I need you to understand that this is the truth and that it's not a slight on the Malfoy name at all. It's a good thing. Especially his relationship with Astoria.”

“I do not have a relationship with Astoria,” Draco said firmly. “And I'm never going to have one either.”

Narcissa gave Draco a look that shut up him immediately. “Draco, you cannot predict the future. And she is quite clearly from a good family.”

“She doesn't even speak to her family because they did not like that she wanted to do something beyond being part of the society life. They expected her to show that Greengrass women behave differently than Daphne does.”

“So she is not on speaking terms with Daphne then?” Lucius asked, prompting Draco to shake his head. “Good. I want you as far away from that woman as you can be.”

“I'll have to be around her whenever I'm around Theo,” Draco pointed out. “He was quite convinced that he's in love with her the last time I spoke to him.”

“That's fine, Draco,” Narcissa said. “So long as you stay as far away from Pansy Parkinson as you can get.”

“I never want to meet Pansy Parkinson in my life,” Draco said seriously. “So that should not be a problem.”

“Her father is less than pleased with me after the conversation I had with him over his wife's interview,” Lucius said bitterly. “As though it's my fault he married a lying bitch like that.”

Draco's phone rang next to him and he reached for it, seeing Astoria's name. “Excuse me for a moment.”

He stood and walked into his bedroom, answering it quickly. “Astoria?”

“Draco, hi. Um, I was wondering if maybe I could come over now, and that maybe I could bring Ginny and Molly with me? Harry's come home when he was supposed to be spending the night having dinner with his parents, and now we have nowhere to talk plans.”

“What about your place?”

“I'm avoiding it since they know where I live,” Astoria said seriously. “I'm trying to limit this as best as I can.”

Draco sighed heavily at what she was going to have to go through. “I'm so sorry, Astoria.”

“It's not your fault, Draco. So, can we come over?”

“How long do you think it will take you to get here? I need to have my parents leave first. They showed up unexpectedly.”

“We'll probably be there within an hour.”

“That will work. I will see you when you get here then. Sneak in the back like I told you to and then buzz the penthouse. I'll let you up immediately.”

“See you soon then.”

They said their goodbyes and then he walked back to the table. “Sorry about that.”

“It's alright, Draco,” Narcissa said, smiling at him. “Was that something important?”

“I am expecting people tonight,” Draco said after a moment. “They will be here within the hour.”

“Then we will leave you to get ready for them,” Narcissa said, tapping Lucius on the shoulder and standing up. “Come on, darling.”

“These guests of yours are some of them, aren't they?”

Draco took a deep breath before looking at his father. “Yes, they are.”

Lucius sat there for a moment before shaking his head and standing. “I certainly hope that you know what you're doing, Draco.”

“I do,” he said, smiling. “I really do.”

Lucius walked towards the elevator as Narcissa pulled him into an embrace. “Enjoy your time with your friends, Draco. I'll call you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Mother. I will look forward to that.”

“Goodbye, Draco,” Lucius said before stepping into the elevator. “And I meant what I said about the standards of a Malfoy.”

“I know you did, Father. Enjoy your dinner with the Ollivanders.”

“We will,” Narcissa said as she got into the elevator. 

Draco sighed in relief once the doors were closed and he heard it begin its descent. He sat back down at his table and resumed eating his dinner, trying to completely ignore his nerves once he realized that he was going to meet Molly Weasley. There was absolutely no reason to be nervous about it and he knew it. But still, Molly was Ron and Ginny's mother, and he wanted to make a good impression on her. 

By the time his dinner was gone and he'd finished washing up the dishes, he heard someone buzz the penthouse. Walking over to it, he turned the microphone on. “Yes?”

“It's us,” came Astoria's voice.

“Then get in the elevator and press the button for the top floor,” Draco said as he pressed the right buttons. “It'll bring you up here.”

“Thank you.”

Draco glanced around the main room, thanked Millicent for having someone come clean it twice a week, and then prepared himself for them to arrive.

The moment the elevator doors opened, the woman that he knew was Molly Weasley walked right up to him and wrapped him up in an embrace. “Oh, Draco, it's so nice to finally meet you. Everyone has been saying such wonderful things about you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley,” Draco got out, and Molly just shook her head. 

“Absolutely none of that. It's Molly.”

Draco smiled. “Then thank you, Molly. Would you all like something to drink?”

“That would be wonderful, Draco,” Ginny said before holding up a bottle, “but we brought our own wine.”

Draco walked over to her and took the bottle. “Then allow me to pour you each a glass. The table's right there if you want, or you could go into the sitting room.”

“I think the table would be better,” Molly said, and she walked over to it with Ginny.

Astoria followed Draco over to the bar, and when he set the bottle down, she wrapped her arms around him. “I'm not angry with you. I'm just not ready for what's going to happen when you do this.”

“I'll be right here to help you through it,” Draco said softly. “But I need you to trust me when I tell you that things will go better this way then they would if I'd denied it.”

Astoria nodded and Draco smiled at her. “Go sit down and I'll bring you the wine and then leave you be.”

“Join us,” Astoria said. “We can use this time to get to know you better while we're working on the wedding plans. I know Ginny would really like that, and I'm sure Molly would too.”

Draco looked over at where things were being spread out on his table before nodding. “I think that sounds like a great idea. I'll get the wine and a glass of whiskey for me, and then I'll be over.”

Astoria gave him a pretty smile before walking away, and by the time that the three ladies left at the end of the evening, Draco realized that was what it was like to have friends in his home.

He was going to have to do that again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, I totally didn't realize how long it had been since I'd updated this. Sorry.

Draco was putting the finishing touches on dinner when the penthouse was buzzed, and he walked over to the intercom. “Yes?”

“It's us,” came Nymphadora's voice. “Let us up.”

“I'm thinking of letting you stand down there for a while,” Draco said teasingly, and Nymphadora's voice hardened.

“The photographers followed us the entire way here, Draco Malfoy. I am not in the mood for games.”

Draco sighed and pressed the correct buttons. “Alright, come up.”

“Thank you.”

Draco headed back to the kitchen and was just finishing up with the pasta as the elevator doors opened. Nymphadora walked in and headed straight towards the bar. “Fuck, I need a drink after all of that.”

“Dora,” came Remus's voice as he emerged from the elevator. “You can't drink.”

Nymphadora groaned and leaned up against the bar. “Draco,” she whined, “what am I supposed to drink?”

“I would suggest a soda or water,” Draco said, shaking his head. “And I don't know why you're whining to me about this. You're the one who got yourself into this situation.”

Nymphadora huffed and walked over to Remus, leading him into the kitchen. “Draco, this is Remus. Remus, my cousin Draco.”

Draco held out his hand and shook Remus's. “It's wonderful to finally meet you. Dora's been going on about you for a while now.”

“She's been saying a lot about you as well,” Remus said, and Draco laughed. 

“I wouldn't believe a word that Dora has to say about me.”

Nymphadora smacked Draco on the shoulder. “That is not a very nice thing to say.”

“Perhaps not, but it's the truth,” Draco said, making Nymphadora smack him again. “Nymphadora, honestly.”

“You are being a jerk when I am not in the mood for that,” Nymphadora said seriously. “I am so over everything today because of the fucking papers.”

Draco sighed. “What did I miss?”

“Front page of _The Sun_ ,” Nymphadora muttered. “And the less said about it, the better.”

Draco looked over at Remus. “It's that bad?”

“My soon-to-be ex-wife is claiming that Dora is the reason we're getting divorced,” Remus explained. “And Dora's mother reacted pretty strongly to it.”

“More like laid into me about being a homewrecker when I'm anything but,” Nymphadora said. “She would not listen to me about that either.”

“Aunt Andromeda will be thrilled when you tell her that you're pregnant then,” Draco said, shaking his head. “Do you want water or a soda, Dora? And what can I get for you, Remus?”

“Water,” Remus said. “I'm not drinking if Dora can't.”

“I told you that's ridiculous,” Nymphadora said. “And I guess I'll have water too.”

“Then I will get those for you. Dinner is nearly ready if you want to sit down at the table,” Draco replied. 

“Who made dinner?” Nymphadora asked.

“I did.”

“I thought I told you that I wasn't eating a thing that you cooked.”

“You did but I'm not hiring a chef just to make you dinner,” Draco said seriously. “I am perfectly capable of cooking, Dora.”

“Dora, let's just go sit down,” Remus said, putting a gentle hand on her arm.

“Oh, alright,” Nymphadora said. “But if I get sick from this, I'm going to kill you.”

“Give me a little more credit than that,” Draco muttered as Remus led her to the table.

Draco got them each a glass of water and then served up two plates of the pasta dish he had prepared. He set the plates in front of them and shook his head with Nymphadora cringed. “Oh, for fuck's sake, Dora, I'm not trying to poison you.”

Nymphadora laughed. “I'm not so sure about that.”

Draco just rolled his eyes and went back to the kitchen, returning a few moments later with a plate of his own. Once he was seated, he glared at Nymphadora until she picked up her fork and took a tentative bite. “Well?”

Nymphadora closed her eyes for a moment. “You know how hard it is for me to admit that you are right about something.”

Draco grinned. “Told you I was capable of cooking.”

“It is delicious, Draco,” Remus said before looking over at Nymphadora. “Eat, darling. You need to keep up your strength.”

Draco smiled when she took another bite. “So, lovebirds, tell me about how this happened. I don't know anything about your relationship.”

“Don't ever call us lovebirds again,” Nymphadora said strongly. “It's bad enough that the papers say shit like that. I don't need you to say it too.”

“We met at Sirius Black's house,” Remus said before Nymphadora could continue. “And it was pretty much love at first sight.”

“You know Sirius?” Draco asked. “I was not aware of that.”

“He was my roommate when we were at university,” Remus said. “He's my best friend.”

“I keep finding connections to our family when I'm least expecting them,” Draco said, smiling at them. “I think it's great that you have that. Gives you some sort of an idea of what it's like to be us.”

“The celebrity thing helps with that too,” Remus added. “Though that has ramped up considerably since the divorce was announced and the public found out about my relationship with Dora.”

“Yes, that does tend to happen. I'm about to go through something similar.”

Nymphadora gave him a confused look. “What does that mean?”

“It means that there is a scandal that is waiting to break. I don't know why they are sitting on it, but they are.”

Nymphadora shook her head. “What have you done now?”

“Been caught drinking at the Leaky Cauldron with Astoria Greengrass.”

Nymphadora nearly spit out her water. “That shit about Daphne having a sister is true?”

“Yes,” Draco said. “And Astoria is not happy about everything that is happening and is about to happen.”

“How in the hell did you find a Greengrass that no one knew existed and then get her to drink with you at the Leaky Cauldron?”

“Astoria already drank there. I am just learning to be friends with her group of friends.”

Nymphadora grinned. “Friends! Oh, Draco, that's wonderful to hear.”

“How about we get back to talking about the two of you,” Draco said as he reached for his glass of water.

Oh, how he wished he'd gone for the whiskey instead.

“No, we are totally talking about this.”

“Dora,” Remus said softly. “Let's not talk about that. He obviously doesn't want to.”

“But I want to,” Nymphadora whined. “But fine. We'll talk about something else. But we are revisiting this subject at another time, Draco.”

“We'll see about that,” Draco replied. “Tell me more about how you met. And what were you doing at Sirius's house anyway, Dora?”

“I was dropping off something for Mum. And then I saw Remus and I just knew I had to stay and find out more about him. Thankfully, Sirius wasn't opposed to that.”

“He is the friendliest of all of us,” Draco pointed out. “I can't imagine that he would have kicked you out. Regulus, maybe, but not Sirius.”

“We had a very long conversation that day,” Remus said. “And when I knew I had to leave, I asked her if we could have dinner sometime so that we could continue that conversation. It's sort of just spiraled out of control from there.”

“But in a good way,” Nymphadora said quickly. “I never knew I could feel like this. All of the attention on it has been overwhelming though, and once they find out that I'm pregnant, it's going to get even worse.”

“I wouldn't be worried about the media's attention on that. I'd be much more worried about your parents' and Grandmother's reactions,” Draco pointed out. “And you better be telling them that soon.”

Nymphadora groaned. “Ugh, don't even make me think of how Grandmother is going to take this. But we are telling Mum and Dad tomorrow night. That's going to be bad enough, especially after the conversation Mum and I had today.”

“You two can set the record straight on what was in the papers today when you speak with them tomorrow,” Draco said. “But once you tell them the baby news, I don't think it'll be as bad as you're thinking it is. Aunt Andromeda is going to be happier about it than you think.”

“I can't imagine that possibly being the case.”

“Then I won't tell you about how she told Mother that she hopes this relationship of yours really goes somewhere this time because it's about time for you to settle down and start a family.”

Nymphadora's eyes widened. “What?”

“Mother was telling me about it earlier today,” Draco said, nodding. “Aunt Andromeda might not like the circumstances presented in the papers today, but she seems to approve of your relationship quite a bit.”

Nymphadora sat there blinking and Remus reached for her hand. “Dora, that's a good thing, isn't it?”

“Yeah,” she breathed out after a few moments. “It is. I just never would have thought that she thought that.”

“Mother says that she does, and while they don't get along at times, I don't think Mother would be lying to me about something like that.”

“Huh,” Nymphadora said, taking a deep breath and picking her fork back up. “Enough about this. Let's talk about something else.”

“Then we will, darling,” Remus said, and Draco smiled. 

“Tell me about your latest project, Remus. I've been hearing something about a war movie?” Draco asked, and Remus just smiled.

“I'll be glad to tell you about it.”

The conversation was much lighter after that, and Draco got to know not only Remus Lupin the actor but Remus Lupin the person too. When it was time for them to leave, Draco hugged Nymphadora and whispered in her ear. “He's great, Dora, and I'll be glad to back you up on that to whoever you need me to.”

Nymphadora was grinning when she pulled back. “So if I said that I wanted your help with Grandmother...”

“I'm still not being in the room when she lays into you about this.”

“Dammit,” Nymphadora said, but she kept the smile on her face. “Thanks, Draco. I really appreciate that.”

“You're welcome, Dora.” Draco shook hands with Remus. “It was very nice to meet you.”

“It was nice to meet you as well,” Remus said, wrapping an arm around Nymphadora's waist. “I feel as though I have some insight into who you are beyond Draco Malfoy now.”

“Well, I have some insight into who you are beyond Remus Lupin now, so we're even,” Draco said as the elevator doors opened. “Hopefully, we can have an evening like this again.”

“Yes, let's,” Remus said as Nymphadora stepped into the elevator.

“We'll do this again soon then,” she said, turning around to face him. “Oh, and Draco? I want to know more about this Astoria Greengrass stuff.”

Draco sighed heavily. “Call me at work tomorrow.”

“You hate it when I call you at work.”

“Just do it, Dora.”

Nymphadora nodded and leaned forward to press the button for the ground floor. “I'll talk to you tomorrow then.”

“Have a good night,” Remus said as the doors began to close.

“Same to you,” Draco replied as the doors closed.

When he heard the elevator begin to lower, Draco breathed a sigh of relief. The evening had been nice, but dealing with Nymphadora on the best of days could be tedious, and he was not having the best of days. Narcissa had not been happy with the latest news about the brewing scandal, his grandmother wanted him to come to the estate Tuesday night so he could explain himself, and he hadn't heard from Astoria in nearly forty-eight hours. 

One of those three bothered him more than the others, and it was not the ones involving his mother or grandmother.

Draco was starting to worry about how much he was coming to care about how Astoria was doing, but he also thought that this was perhaps what happened when people had friends. He certainly had never been this concerned about how someone who was not a member of his family was before, but he didn't have any experience in things like this for him to know what it really was. He wanted desperately to go to the Leaky Cauldron, have a couple of Millionaire Cocktail No. 1s, and talk to Hannah.

But he couldn't do that.

He poured himself a glass of whiskey and then began to clean up the dishes, debating on whether he should try contacting Astoria again as he drank. He didn't want her to feel alone while all of this was going on, and he knew that she wasn't because she had everyone else around her, but he also knew that none of them could really understand. He, on the other hand, understood. He understood more than he could possibly express. And he just wanted her to know that it was all going to be okay. Her life would never be the same again, but it wouldn't be entirely awful either.

He reached for his phone and he had nearly clicked through to the screen to send her another message when the phone began to rang, Astoria's name appearing on the screen. He quickly answered it, but before he could get his greeting out, Astoria started talking.

“It's hitting the papers in the morning.”

Draco took a deep breath and then reached for his glass. “It is?”

“I just got another email from my uncle's press officer,” Astoria said. “It's going to be the front page of _The Sun_ tomorrow, which means that it's really hitting in the middle of the night tonight. I've already asked for a substitute teacher tomorrow because I'm afraid of going near the school. I can't go home because I know they're watching the place. I don't know what to do, Draco.”

“Where are you right now?” Draco asked. 

“Sitting in my car in a grocery store parking lot,” Astoria confessed. “I honestly don't know where to go from here. I don't want to draw any attention to any of our friends because the last thing they need is photographers bothering them all the time for a glimpse of me. I'm too afraid to go get a hotel room because someone will surely recognize me and tip off someone that I'm there once it breaks tonight. I just don't know what to do.”

“Come here,” was out of Draco's mouth before he could stop it. “You can stay here with me.”

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Astoria said after a moment. “Because I'm not so sure that we should be seen together now that this has happened.”

“Astoria, you need somewhere to go. Everywhere else is an option that you just dismissed. You can park in the underground garage, take the elevator up here, and then we'll be shut away from the world and we can try to start dealing with this. No one can walk in on us here.”

“I'm still not sure that's a good idea.”

“We made an agreement that we were going to go through this together,” Draco pointed out. “You knew that might mean that the cameras caught us together. But if we're both here in the penthouse, then no one can photograph us.”

“We can't just stay in your penthouse forever, Draco.”

“No, but we can stay long enough to put together some sort of plan.”

Astoria was quiet for a few moments before sighing heavily. “I just don't want this to be happening.”

“I know you don't,” Draco said softly. “I don't want this to be happening to you either. But I'm going to be confirming that we know each other to the world tomorrow. There is no reason to hide the fact that we do. The rest of the bullshit that is written is stuff that we can deal with once we see what they've said. But for now, just come over here, we'll have a few drinks, and wait for it to hit the internet so we can read what they've written about us.”

Astoria was quiet for a few moments again. “Okay,” she eventually said. “How do I get into your garage?”

Draco told her the code to use on the gate. “Park in one of the five spots to the right of the elevator on the first level you drive into. Those all belong to the penthouse. Buzz it from there and I'll let you up immediately.”

“Then I guess I'll see you in a little while.”

“I'll look forward to it. And Astoria? We'll get through this. I know it.”

“I know,” Astoria said, and Draco could hear the honesty in her voice. “I'm just not prepared for this life.”

“I think you might be more prepared than you think. But we'll talk about that once you're here.”

“Okay. I'll be there within an hour.”

“I'll be waiting.”

They said their goodbyes and then Draco tossed the phone onto the counter, reaching up to run his hands over his face. He didn't want to be going through another scandal. He'd had enough of scandals.

But the fact that Astoria was going to have to go through it bothered him more than anything.

He reached for the phone again when he realized he needed to call Millicent so the media response could be swift, polishing off his drink. He wasn't going to go into work tomorrow, he decided. It was probably better if he stayed away from the office because there was sure to be a glut of photographers in front of the building. 

Astoria needed him more anyway.


	11. Chapter 11

Astoria sat down on the sofa while Draco fetched his laptop, sipping at her glass of whiskey. “Thank you for giving me somewhere to go, Draco.”

“Of course,” Draco said as he walked back into the room. “I will do whatever I have to do to help you through this.”

“That means a lot to me,” Astoria murmured. “Because I am fucking terrified right now. My entire life is about to change.”

“I know it's scary, but you've got to trust me when I tell you that it's going to be alright.”

Draco signed into his laptop and pulled up _The Sun_ 's website before setting it on the table in front of them. “We'll just refresh it every once and a while. I'm sure I'll get a message from Millie the moment it hits anyway.”

“Did you tell her to expect it?” Astoria asked, sighing when Draco nodded. “So, what exactly is this media response that you're going to do?”

“I'm not going to deny knowing you, but I will be stating that contrary to the article, we are only friends,” Draco said. “This will no doubt set off a firestorm of how could I cheat on Pansy bullshit, so another statement denying my relationship with her will be released when that starts.”

“You're sure you don't want to deny knowing me?” Astoria asked quietly. “Because I will understand if you do.”

“I am not denying knowing you,” Draco said strongly. “They already have photographic evidence that we do, and you deserve better than me lying about you anyway.”

Astoria took a long sip from her drink. “I just don't want to complicate your life any more than I imagine it already is.”

“You're not, I promise. Having you and everyone else in it is only going to make things better,” Draco said honestly. “Am I over the media bullshit? Absolutely. But there is nothing that I can do to stop that. All I can do is try to make things easier for us both. I may not be very successful but I am damn sure going to try.”

Astoria blinked as she felt some tears come to her eyes. “Thank you, Draco. For everything you've done and you will do.”

Draco looked over at her just as a tear slid down her cheek. He reached up and gently wiped it away with his thumb. “Don't cry. Everything is going to be alright.”

“It's just...” Astoria started, pausing. “You're Draco fucking Malfoy. You shouldn't give a fuck about this. You shouldn't give a fuck about me. I should just be another in the long line of girls that end up in the papers because they were seen near you. I shouldn't matter.”

“Oh, Astoria,” Draco said, caressing the side of her face. “You are so much more than one of those vapid girls who try to use me for their ten seconds of fame. You are a beautiful, talented, smart, funny woman that I am honored to consider a friend. You matter to me because you should. You should matter to everyone.”

More tears slipped down Astoria's cheeks and Draco wiped them away. “You really are going to help me through this, aren't you?”

“I'm not lying to you. Of course I am.”

Astoria took a deep breath and then polished off her drink. “Any chance for another?”

Draco took her glass and stood up. “I'm going to pull a Hannah on you and not let you get drunk.”

Astoria laughed as she wiped at her eyes. “I won't get drunk, I promise. I just need to be really buzzed.”

“Really buzzed I can allow,” Draco said as he poured them each some more. He walked back over to the sofa and sat down, handing her glass over. “Shall we check the website?”

Astoria took a long sip before nodding. “Refresh away.”

Draco snatched the laptop up and clicked to refresh the page. Astoria leaned closer to him as they waited for it to load, and Draco closed his eyes and prayed that things weren't going to be that bad.

Then he opened them to see the headline and realized that his prayers had not been answered.

 _Draco and the Mysterious Greengrass Girl_ , the headline read. _Secret rendezvouses in a London bar spell out their torrid affair._ Draco let his eyes sweep the page and he bit back a groan when he saw the second article that accompanied it. _EXCLUSIVE: Pansy Parkinson on her heartbreak at Draco's betrayal._

Astoria was silent next to him and Draco knew that making sure she was alright was a priority, but no priority was bigger than getting those statements put out quickly. He set the laptop on the table and grabbed his phone, dialing Millicent's number from heart. He waited approximately four seconds before the call was answered and he didn't let Millicent finish her greeting before he started talking. 

“Headline on _The Sun_ 's website plus a bullshit exclusive from fucking Pansy Parkinson. I want both statements sent to every available media outlet there is as quickly as possible. And that's an order.”

Millicent started talking but Draco just hung up the phone and tossed it onto the table. He turned to face Astoria and found her with her eyes closed, breathing heavily, and so he did the first thing he could think of and pulled her into his arms. Astoria was stiff for a moment before she relaxed into Draco's embrace, burying her face in his neck and letting the tears fall.

Draco had never hated Daphne Greengrass more than at that moment.

“It's okay,” he said softly. “I know it's hard to believe but it's the truth.”

Astoria cried into his neck for what felt like hours as Draco ran his hands slowly along her back comfortingly. Eventually, she got her emotions back under control and pulled back, laughing hollowly. “My mother must be so proud right now.”

Draco laughed too. “Of course she is. You bagged a Malfoy.”

Astoria gave him a weak smile. “I'm probably redeemed in her eyes now. I've managed to do better than Daphne did.”

“I'm sure that means Daphne is pretty angry at you at the moment then.”

Astoria smiled. “Let her be. She's got her own mess to worry about.”

“That would be good revenge, you know,” Draco said. “Leaking the news that Theo's knocked her up would be a nice reply to her doing this to you.”

Astoria sat there for a moment. “I have no idea how to do that. And I have no proof.”

“I know how to do it,” Draco said, smiling. “And all you have to do is say the right things. The paper will do the dirty work for you.”

“That is delightfully spiteful,” Astoria murmured. “Can I think about it?”

“You can think about it for as long as you like,” Draco said, reaching for the laptop again. “Do you want to read the article now?” 

Astoria was still for a moment before nodding. “Let's see how much of my life has been ruined.”

Draco leaned back against the cushions and pulled Astoria back with him, settling the laptop on his legs so they could both read the article. He clicked on it and waited for it to load, and when it did, they began to read. Draco was rolling his eyes at the sensationalism by the fourth sentence, but he reached for Astoria's hand when personal details about her life were revealed. Where she taught, what grade, even statements from some of her students' parents. 

He knew enough about Astoria to know that it was those statements that would affect her the most. She loved her students more than anything and she would feel betrayed by their parents because of it. 

By the time that they reached the end of the article, it had become increasingly clear that someone had recognized Draco on the first night that he'd been in there and tipped the newspaper off and they'd been watching him ever since. They knew about that first conversation with Astoria at the bar, they knew about him hanging out with all of her friends, and they somehow knew about their phone conversations.

He softly asked if Astoria was done reading, and when she nodded, he set the laptop back on the table and ran his hands over his face. It was bad enough that they knew as much about him as they did, and it was bad enough that they'd managed to learn as much about Astoria as they had, but it was that last part that was making him pause.

How the fuck did they know about their phone conversations?

“They know more than I expected them to,” Astoria finally said. “A lot more.”

“Yeah, they do,” Draco said, running his hands over his face again. “How could they possibly know about our phone conversations?”

“I don't know,” Astoria murmured. “I have no idea.”

“Well, that's something to look into, for sure. We should probably call the bar and talk to Hannah. She needs to know that they've been in there probably every night looking for info on the two of us for a lot longer than we thought.”

“Probably a good idea,” Astoria said, reaching for her phone on the table. “I'll do that. We need to start calling everyone anyway.”

Astoria stood up and Draco looked at her funny. “Where are you going?”

“Your bathroom,” she said. “I need to be alone for this.”

“You don't think you can talk to Hannah about this in front of me?”

“I think that I need to talk to Hannah about the fact that they were clearly in there long before you ever showed up there,” Astoria said, taking a deep breath. “There's some stuff about me in that article that was quite clearly found out before you went in there.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because they know my last boyfriend's name,” Astoria said sadly. “Excuse me.”

Draco watched as she walked out of the room before reaching for his phone. He thought about who it was he should call first, and after a glance at the time, he scrolled through his contacts and picked out the one he was looking for. When the call was placed, he brought the phone up to his ear and then waited.

“Draco, it's nearly one a.m.,” came Narcissa's voice. “You never call this late.”

“Sorry, Mother, but I have a reason for it,” Draco said, but before he could say anything else, Narcissa spoke.

“What has happened? Do I need to wake your father and head to a hospital?”

“No, no,” Draco soothed. “I just wanted you to know that the story about me and Astoria has hit the internet and will be the front page of _The Sun_ tomorrow morning.”

Narcissa sighed heavily. “Oh, darling.”

“I think this problem is bigger than I had first thought based upon the article. Astoria seems pretty certain that they were in there observing her before they knew I was there. They definitely have known about me being in there from the first night.”

Narcissa sighed again. “Media response is coordinated, I take it?”

“Yes, but I feel like it's going to need to be adjusted past the initial phase. I've already got Millicent rolling that out.”

“Then call me in the morning and let me know what is happening. I'll take care of your father and grandmother.”

“Grandmother?” Draco said, surprised.

“The last thing you need is your grandmother calling you out to the estate to yell at you,” Narcissa said firmly. “I will deal with my mother until things have calmed down enough for you two to have an actual conversation.”

Draco let a smile cross his face. “Thank you, Mother, I appreciate that.”

“I'd do anything for you, darling. I mean that.”

“I know,” Draco said, leaning back against the cushions. “I need to start calling some other people and I should let you get back to sleep.”

“Hold on a moment,” Narcissa said, and Draco could hear typing before a gasp. “That Parkinson bitch gave them an exclusive about you?”

Draco closed his eyes. “Yes, apparently, she did.” 

“I will handle that,” Narcissa said, her tone letting Draco know that the subject was not up for discussion. “I will let you know more details on how that is going when I speak to you in the morning.”

“Thank you, Mother,” Draco said. “I will talk to you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, darling.”

Draco hung up the phone and tossed it onto the sofa next to him, sighing heavily. This was not what he thought was going to happen. He hadn't known what was going to happen, but he hadn't thought that it would be this.

He hadn't thought that things could be this bad.

Astoria came walking back into the room at that moment, and Draco could immediately tell she'd been crying some more. He stood up and went to her, and Astoria went willingly back into his arms. “I'm so sorry, Astoria. This is all my fault.”

“No, this is not all your fault,” Astoria said firmly. “They were in there before you were. Once you showed up, it got them more intrigued and then they finally felt they had their story. I thought that this was Daphne's fault, but now I don't think so.”

“Whose fault do you think it is then?” Draco asked as they broke apart. 

“My ex's,” Astoria said, walking around him and sitting back down. “Fuck, I knew that man was trouble from the very beginning but I was stupid and told him who I was anyway, and now it's going to ruin my life.”

Draco sat down next to her. “Who exactly is your ex?”

Astoria sat there for a few moments before groaning. “Blaise is a motherfucking dick.”

Something occurred to Draco then and he couldn't stop himself from asking. “Blaise's last name wouldn't be Zabini, would it?”

Astoria looked over at him in surprise. “How did you know that?”

“He's my mother's assistant,” Draco said, reaching for his phone and furiously typing out a message to his mother. “If he's the one responsible for this, then I guarantee you he's not going to have a job after tonight.”

“I think our lives are more intertwined than I ever would have thought,” Astoria said, reaching for her drink. “I know you said that you'd only let me get really buzzed, but I really need to be drunk.”

“You're not the only one,” Draco said, tossing his phone onto the table. “I'll go get the bottle of whiskey. You figure out who we're calling next.”

“Deal.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been so long but I had some serious health issues that were keeping me from being able to write this on my designated day for it.
> 
> my designated day for it is Thursdays, btw, so that's when you can expect updates.

The phone was ringing when Draco woke up, and he reached for it and answered without looking at who was calling. “Hello?”

“Draco?” came a cheery voice. “It's Hannah.”

“Hannah,” Draco murmured, turning his head towards his bedside table. “What time is it?”

“Seven-thirty. I was hoping that I'd catch you before you went to work.”

“I'm not going in today. Astoria needs me more.”

“I cannot thank you enough for what you are doing for her. I really can't.”

Draco shifted until he was sitting up in bed and he felt pain throb behind his eyes. “I'm trying to be a friend.”

“You are and it's wonderful,” Hannah said. “But now it's time for all of us to be friends for both of you.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that we are coming over tonight,” Hannah said seriously. “I'm bringing the alcohol, I'll make us all a few drinks, and we'll get through this together.”

“Hannah,” Draco started, but she cut him off.

“This is not up for discussion, Draco. This is what is happening.”

Draco sighed heavily. “Fine.”

“Perfect. Now, I need an address, a place for all of us to park, and how to get up to your swanky penthouse.”

Draco sighed again but then told Hannah where to go and how to buzz the apartment. “Aren't you supposed to be working tonight?”

“Ernie can handle it. He's got help now.”

“Help?”

“Yeah, I just hired a new bartender. Seamus. Great guy. Between the two of them, things will be just fine without me there.”

“If you say so,” Draco said. “I should get up and start checking in with some people.”

“Then I'll see you tonight.”

They said their goodbyes and Draco began to scroll through his messages, sighing when he saw the ones from the people who thought they were friends of his. Marcus Flint's message was particularly infuriating, little more than wanting to know if Astoria was as good in bed as she looked. Draco decided that Marcus would be cut out of all Malfoy family social gatherings from that point on. He was not going to put up with that bullshit.

Draco forced himself to get out of bed and he got dressed, heading towards the kitchen to make some tea. The door to the guest room Astoria was sleeping in was still shut so he was as quiet as possible while making the tea, but the kettle whistled loudly before he could stop it. Draco made it quiet as quickly as he could, but he wasn't surprised when he heard the door open a few moments later.

Astoria came into the kitchen, her long brown hair up in a ponytail. She was still wearing the shirt that Draco had given her so she didn't have to sleep in her blouse. As Draco looked at her, he couldn't help but think that he wanted to see her in his clothes all of the time.

Then he realized how absurd that thought was and stopped that train before it could get too far. Astoria would never go for him anyway.

“Good morning,” Astoria said sleepily. “Are you making tea?”

“Morning,” Draco said, turning back to the kettle. “Would you like a cup?”

“Please,” Astoria said, sitting down on one of the stools at the island. “Thank you, Draco, for everything that you're doing. I can never thank you enough for all of this.”

“I am more than happy to help in any way I can,” Draco said, reaching for another cup. “Are you hungry? I can make us some breakfast.”

“After the cup of tea if you don't mind,” Astoria said. “I never wake up enough for breakfast until after a cup of tea.”

Draco walked over to the island and set a cup in front of her. “It's just breakfast tea. I hope that's alright.”

“Breakfast tea is perfect,” Astoria said, picking up the cup. “Whiskey last night, breakfast tea this morning. It's like you're a man after my own heart.”

Draco paused and Astoria sighed immediately. “I shouldn't have said that.”

“It's fine,” Draco said, making his own cup. “That's the kind of stuff a girlfriend would say and if we decide to go with our crazy plan, that's the sort of stuff you will have to say.”

Astoria laughed. “Our crazy plan to just go with this and have me pretend to be your girlfriend for a while because it might be easier on me that way. I'm still not sure that would be the case.”

“Trust me, it would be,” Draco said, sitting down next to her. “It might even be something that lets us go back to the bar. It'll probably get our picture all over the papers but I'd not mind that if it means that we can go there. In the meantime, it sounds like Hannah is bringing the bar to us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hannah called me, which is why I'm awake right now. She said everyone is going to come here tonight and she's bringing the alcohol. I assume that means she's making everyone their favorite drinks.”

Astoria shook her head. “That's such a Hannah thing to do. I can't believe she's leaving the bar in Ernie's hands tonight though. It's going to be crawling with people looking for info on us for sure.”

“She said she hired a new bartender the other day so it sounds like Ernie won't be alone.”

“Good. I'd hate it if he was all by himself on a night like tonight.”

Draco took a long sip of his tea. “What do you think of the crazy plan now that you've slept on it? Be honest.”

“I think it sounds like living a life that I've never wanted to live,” Astoria said after a moment. “But I also think that you would normalize it as much as possible for me and that there is no one else that I'd do this with. So I'm torn, to be honest. I don't want to do it but at the same time I think maybe I need to if only to get this media attention off my back in a few months.”

“I know that you never wanted the society life, and I don't blame you for that, but you would definitely have to come to these things with me if we do this. Fancy dresses and hairstyles and all of that.”

“There's no way I can afford to do that.”

“I would pay for it,” Draco said, looking at her. “I'll pay for all the expenses you have for our charade if we do this.”

“Draco,” Astoria said softly. “You don't have to do that.”

“It would be no problem. It's not like I can't afford to do it.”

Astoria saw the serious look on his face and sighed. “I would need help with all of that. The picking out dresses and hair and makeup stuff. I have no idea how to do that.”

“I'll enlist Millie to help. Or Dora. Whichever one of them usually picks out Dora's dresses when I bring her with me to an event. And a hairstylist and makeup artist would be easy to employ.”

Astoria took a deep breath. “How many of these things would I have to go to?”

“There's usually one every weekend, but I don't have to go to all of them. I am hosting one at my parents' estate in three weeks, so you'd definitely have to be at that one.”

Astoria took another deep breath. “There would be photographers at the school, wouldn't there?”

“Yes,” Draco said, setting his cup down and reaching for her hand. “And they will be there whether we do the crazy plan or not.”

“I hate this,” Astoria whispered. “I hate this so much.”

“I know. I wish I could make it go away for you but I can't. The only thing I can think of that would eventually end the intense coverage is this plan. Fake a relationship for a few months and then split publicly. We'll come up for some reason when the time comes, make me look like the bad guy, and that will focus their attention on me instead of you. It's the only thing I can think of.”

Astoria sat there for a moment. “Can I have some time to think about it? And maybe talk to the girls about it?”

“Of course,” Draco said, squeezing her hand. “We'll have a big talk with everyone tonight if you want.”

“That might be a good idea,” Astoria said, reaching for her cup again. “I don't know where I'm going to stay. I don't want them photographing me at home. I don't want where I live broadcast to the world.”

“I can understand that,” Draco replied. “And you can stay here for as long as you want. I won't mind.”

“Are you sure?” Astoria asked. “Because that might cause a lot of headlines.”

“Everything is going to cause a lot of headlines. It's just the way it is.”

Astoria nodded. “I suppose I could get one of the girls to go get some stuff for me. I can't just wear this every day. Thank you again for the shirt to sleep in.”

“You're welcome,” Draco said, smiling at her. “And I think asking one of them to get some stuff for you is a good idea.”

Astoria nodded again. “Then I guess I'm staying here for a while.”

“It's really not a problem,” Draco said, standing up. “You ready for breakfast yet? I'm hungry.”

“What do you usually make for breakfast?”

“Just eggs and toast,” Draco said, walking to his refrigerator. “Is that alright?”

“That's perfect too,” Astoria laughed. “We're perfect for each other and this fake relationship.”

Draco forced the thought that they might just be perfect for each other from his head. He had no idea where these thoughts were coming from. “Well, the more compatible we seem to the outside world, the more we'll be able to sell this. If we do it.”

“I have a feeling we're going to be doing it. I just want some time to,” Astoria said, being interrupted by a phone ringing. “Is that yours? Because it's not mine.”

“Yeah, it is,” Draco said, closing the refrigerator and reaching for his phone. “Hello?”

“Good morning, darling,” Narcissa said, and Draco took a deep breath. 

“Good morning, Mother. How angry is Father?”

“Do not worry about that right now,” Narcissa replied, which told Draco that Lucius was furious. “The important thing to speak about at the moment is this Blaise Zabini situation.”

“And what have you learned about this Blaise Zabini situation, as you put it?” Draco asked, opening up the egg carton and reaching for a pan. “Because his involvement in all of this is alarming.”

“Oh, it's beyond alarming, darling. I'm suing him over his breach of the non-disclosure agreement that he signed, and I have him on tape admitting that he did speak to _The Sun_ about you and Astoria which I will happily let my lawyer play in court.”

“So he did talk to _The Sun_ then,” Draco said, looking up at Astoria. “What did he tell them?”

“Enough that I don't think that's the last article,” Narcissa said, dropping her voice low. “He mentioned telephone conversations between the two of you and I have no idea how he could possibly know about those.”

“Are you sure that's what he said?” Draco asked, completely alarmed.

“Positive, darling.” Draco heard someone call out his mother's name in the background. “Draco, I need to go have breakfast with your grandmother. But you keep me posted on what is going on, okay? After breakfast, I'll be taking care of the Parkinson situation.”

“I don't know how you're going to do that, Mother.”

“I have my ways. Trust me,” Narcissa said, and Draco could tell she was grinning. “Have a good day, darling.”

“Goodbye, Mother,” Draco said, hanging up the phone and tossing it to the counter. “Well, my mother has Blaise on audio saying that he spoke to _The Sun_ about us, so that is going to be used as evidence when she sues him for millions for breaking his non-disclosure agreement. But that's not the thing that's bothering me about what he said.”

“Then what is it?” Astoria asked, taking a long sip of her tea.

“Mother said that Blaise mentioned our phone conversations,” Draco said carefully. “And there's no way he would have known about those.”

Astoria sat there sipping at her tea as that thought permeated in her mind. “There's stuff in that article that we've only said on phone conversations,” she said as the realization hit her. “They've got our phones tapped.”

“It certainly sounds like it,” Draco said, reaching for his phone again. “I'm getting Millie to get us both new phones and numbers this morning. We can't talk to anyone on the ones that we have now.”

“If they've got our phones tapped, then they know that you told me to come stay here last night,” Astoria murmured. “They'll know that I'm here.”

“Most likely,” Draco said, finishing his message to Millicent. “I'll have Millie give us an update on how many photographers are outside when she comes here to bring us the new phones.”

“A new phone for me is going to be tied up with you right now. I should get it myself.”

“It needs to happen immediately, Astoria, and we can get it separated for you once all this calms down a bit,” Draco said seriously. “It's not something that needs to be done today.”

“So long as you let me pay you back for all of it.”

“Not necessary.”

“Maybe not to you, but it is to me.”

Astoria's phone rang and Draco shook his head. “Don't answer that.”

She picked it up and looked at it anyway. “It's the school. I have to answer it.”

“Then make the call as quick as possible and don't say anything you wouldn't want the public to know,” Draco said. “That's all you can do.”

Astoria stood up and headed down the hallway. “I'll be back in a few minutes. Please make me some breakfast!”

“On it!” Draco called out, turning back to the process of making eggs and toast. 

He worked on it for about five minutes, getting everything ready but not cooking the eggs. He didn't know how long Astoria's phone call would last and he didn't want her to eat cold food. He used the time by himself to try and drill into his mind that these thoughts about Astoria had to stop.

It didn't matter how good she looked in his shirt. It was never going to happen again.

It really wasn't.

The fact that he'd grown closer to Astoria throughout the pending of this disaster than any of the others suddenly hit him, and he didn't quite know what to make of it. He'd never imagined that he would grow close to anyone, even someone thrown into a publicity nightmare like this, but now he couldn't imagine not having Astoria in his life. He needed her. He needed her so much.

That was a thought that he had to stop too.

He looked up when Astoria came walking back into the room, and he could immediately tell that she'd been crying. He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, and Astoria buried her head in his neck. They stayed like that for a long time, Draco's hand gently rubbing up and down her back, until Astoria pulled back and wiped at her eyes. “I fucking hate this.”

“What happened?”

“I've been put on administrative leave,” Astoria said bitterly. “I've been deemed a safety risk for the students at the school because of the behavior of the photographers who were waiting for me this morning, and so I've been told to stay as far away from the school as possible. So now I can't go home and I can't go to work and my life has already been ruined and it's just going to get worse.”

“I'm sorry,” Draco said softly. “I am so, so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“No, it really isn't,” Astoria said, sighing heavily. “Is breakfast ready yet?”

“It will be in a few minutes,” Draco replied, walking back to the stove. “I didn't want to cook the eggs because I didn't know how long you'd be. I didn't want your food to get cold.”

“Thank you for thinking of that,” Astoria murmured, climbing back onto her stool. “Microwaved eggs are terrible.”

“That I agree with.” Draco looked up at her. “This is going to be okay, Astoria. I promise you that.”

Astoria picked up her cup of tea and took a long sip. “I'm going to try really hard to believe that. And can you microwave this? The tea is cold.”

“Absolutely.”


End file.
